the-scottish-sun « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Pro-independence groups in Scotland lose the support of a crucial allied.

Brenda B. — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:34:28 +0000

Rupert Murdoch.Image from Wikipedia.com Alex Salmond. Images from http://www.thedrum.com Rupert Murd

07/10/12 MO7S

walkamileinmyshoesuk — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:04:38 +0000

I met Graeme from the super sensational soaraway Sun at the Ferry Port in Largs.

Given the long term reportage I felt came from the paper and other red tops about people with a mental health malady I felt a little like I was shaking hands with the devil.

He was friendly, warm, interesting and…not surprisingly…interested in my story.

This meeting had come about through contacts of a friend of a friend.

We’d vaguely agreed that he’d observe me for a full day of the ramble to get a flavour if what it was about.

We met the photographer a little further down the line.

Again, he was friendly and personable.

Hmmm…maybe I was being led into trap?

I’d had friends I’d spoken to who had expressed concerns that the Sun was looking for a story and that story might not be in the interest of Walk a Mile.

Others recognised this as a great opportunity to get a positive story of folk with mental health problems out into a public domain.

A number of years ago, in my other life as a social worker, part of my job involved working with people with mental health issues.

A small, yet significant, part of this group were people with a Borderline Personality Disorder.

When a referral came in for such a person there was often a collective sigh, wry smiles as it was acknowledged that this person was likely to be DIFFICULT.

Manipulative

Dishonest

Unpredictable

When I was diagnosed with BPD I found a social group of fellow sufferers who met regularly in Edinburgh.

My psychiatrist warned me against meeting up with them – saying these were very ill people…

Hmmm

Me, being me, went along to the groups and found some of the best help and advice that I’d received.

Professionals don’t always recognise the reasons behind the seemingly challenging behaviour.

A sufferer can lie to avoid potentially triggering situations or conversations – they may say ‘I’m fine’ and go home an self harm.

Very often the primary motivation is to stay away from potentially emotionally volatile or difficult situations.

This can stem from a childhood of abuse, of neglect or some other trauma.

It can stem from faulty brain wiring.

Or both.

It has been described, more accurately I feel, as a normal response to abnormal circumstances.

As I’ve rambled through Scotland I’ve often seen a sign that reads ‘MO7S’. What on earth can it mean?

Before meeting Graeme I read through a number of reports from The Scottish Sun that mentioned folk with mental health problems.

It might be due to my current Pollyanna outlook on the world – but it would appear there is a sea change a-happening.

The stories of mad person ate my dog/ wife/ hamster are more rare.

Compassionate stories about sports people with mental maladies are beginning to seep through…

Sun reporters have been sent on mental health awareness courses.

Their features writer, Graeme Donohoe, walked 9 miles in my shoes and wrote an understanding and positive account of his day…

We talked about the naked rambler – the pros and cons…

We talked about whether or not I should put my phone number on the article…

“You don’t want to do that, you’ll get loads of calls from nutters…”
the photographer said.

“That’s EXACTLY what I want,” I came back.

None taken.

He meant malicious callers…

Fair enough.

This felt like the meeting of 2 worlds…

My story was story enough for Graeme.

My lack of knowledge about him as a reporter – as a person – led to prejudice on my part.

Shaking hands with the devil?

I think not.

I’ll post a link to the piece when it appears online – you can make your own decision.

If you can’t wait message me with your email address and I’ll send you the PDF.

As for the professionals and other individuals who make judgements about folk with mental health problems…?

The information is there…and the situation is improving.

MO7S?

It’s written on roads all around Scotland.

If seen from the right perspective it reads…

SLOW

It all comes clear if you look at it from the right angle…

Walk a mile

Chris

This is not journalism, this is sexism.

tillyjean — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:09:50 +0000

This article in The Scottish Sun, an interview with the classical violinist Nicola Benedetti, is a w

BNP rally 'closed down' in Glasgow

3cafa — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 15:38:47 +0000

“Scores of trade union activists and anti-fascist campaigners have prevented the racist BNP and Scottish Defence League from holding what they described as a ‘national rally’ in Scotland.

BNP leader, Nick Griffin, had been due to attend an outdoor rally in Glasgow city centre.

In the event, three members of a small, breakaway fascist group turned up.

They were confronted by more than 200 counter-protesters and following an hour-long stand-off with police, they left the area.

Speaking at a rally immediately afterwards, deputy general secretary of the Scottish TUC, Dave Moxham told supporters: “Our job is to say that whenever fascists raise their heads, we will tell people – ‘you are not part of a proper democratic discourse, you are the enemies of a proper democratic discourse.’

“What they [BNP leaders] believe is that at a time of economic crisis, at a time of strife overseas, that this is their time. And they cannot believe that over the last couple of ears they have failed to get any traction in Scotland for their hatred.”

The rally was supported by a number of unions, including Unite, UNISON and the EIS teachers’ union.

Scottish National Party MSP Humza Yousa told demonstrators: “This was a great victory for the voices of hope, the voices of tolerance, against the voices of those who try to divide us.

“We are proud of being the ‘chapati and chips city’; the city of bhangra and bagpipes.

UnionNews will post a film report on the demonstration and rally later.

Watch our Twitter feed @UnionNewsUK for updates.”

source

*Update July 29th “BNP chief’s terror in clash with protesters“

Cardonald College journalists make headlines

journostudies — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:20:42 +0000

AS THEY prepare for the final push, with an NCTJ Diploma in Journalism and their HND in sight, Cardo

Top 10 running quotations (not my top 10)

Mark Cooper — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:32:23 +0000

Top 10 Running Quotations Running Quotes #1 Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a ra

50 Marathons in 56 days in the Scottish Sun

Mark Cooper — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:12:37 +0000

http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2746388/Scot-Mark-Cooper-aims-for-50-marathons-in-56-d

Newspaper Round-Up Friday 9th November

oliverfarrimond — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:13 +0000

Newspaper Round-Up Tuesday November 3rd

oliverfarrimond — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:35:17 +0000

Newspaper Round-up Friday 30th October

oliverfarrimond — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:03 +0000

Interview: Sir Malcolm Rifkind

oliverfarrimond — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:33:52 +0000

By Rory Reynolds

TORY grandee Sir Malcolm Rifkind believes this week’s conference marked the last rites of the Labour Government and Gordon Brown – neither with a single rabbit left to pull out of the hat.

And that was even before The Sun dropped its bombshell of switching its support to David Cameron, while hedging its bets in its Scottish edition.

At the end of a turbulent week which had the Conservatives “measuring the curtains at No.10”, the long-serving Tory minister even sensed arch-survivor Peter Mandelson was preparing for the wilderness years after next spring’s General Election.

In a wide-ranging interview, the former Scottish Secretary said: “All the reports indicated, for understandable reasons, that the Labour party arrived at that conference very depressed, very low, talking about not if they would be defeated, but by how much they would be defeated.

“The very fact that they had to take comfort in a speech by Peter Mandelson sums it up.

“Mandelson is an extraordinary political figure – even Lazarus rose from the dead once, he’s done it twice.

“One can recognise a highly skillful political figure – but he’s shrewd and he knows perfectly well Labour is going to be defeated.“What he is trying to do is to maintain the moral of his party until it is all over and they can start trying to reconstruct themselves.

Remarkable

“There were so few people there that you could be forgiven for thinking it must have been a press conference.

“You only had to look at how empty the conference centre was to see the state that their party is in – we’ve been through similar circumstances – but this year our conference will be packed to the gunwales.

“You always wonder whether your political opponents are going to pull some rabbit out of the hat, if they had some remarkable announcement which will somehow transform the public mood – I didn’t think it would happen, and I don’t think Gordon Brown is capable of it anyway.

“I should imagine this week will be remembered more for the opposition of The Sun than anything said at the conference itself.

“It is not that the views of any one newspaper should be given that much weight – at the end of the day any decisions taken by the sun are taken by Mr Murdoch – one person.

“But it does have a symbolism and symbols are important in politics, and just as the Labour party got incredibly excited when The Sun decided to support Blair, so the severance of support is itself a symbol of the times we live in.”

Edinburgh-born Rifkind, 63, who served at the top levels of government for over a decade, said the the Conservative party were not getting carried away with their recent surge in the polls, but are quietly confident of victory next year.

Badly

He said: “You’ve got to be cautious on these occasions because all the evidence suggests we on the road towards quite a significant political victory and an end to years of political opposition – but you can’t take it for granted.

“First of all your relying on opinion surveys which may or may not be accurate, but secondly even if they are accurate the election is not tomorrow.

“It’s not for eight or nine months, it is looking hugely encouraging but I’m sure David Cameron will not be relaxing, nor anyone in the Conservative party, until the end of polling on the day itself.”

Rifkind, who was awarded a knighthood in 1997 for his services to Commonwealth and Foreign affairs, admitted that the recent success of the Conservative party in the polls was not reflected in Scotland, where the party have fared badly since Margaret Thatcher’s leadership.

However he said that the party has a greater awareness of Scottish issues, and believes that David Cameron, whose father is Scottish and whose family descend from the Highlands, has a firm understanding of the issues that are unique to Scotland.

He said: “David Cameron has already shown that with his statements and his whole approach to the Scottish dimension that he has every intention of being sensitive and responsive and seeking a much greater consensual approach to problem solving.

The Scottish Sun

“That’s partly because he believes in that – that’s the nature of the way he’s approached his leadership of the conservative party for the whole of the United Kingdom.

“But there’s an additional reason as well, David Cameron and the rest of us know perfectly well what Alex Salmond is up to.

“Salmond wants to provoke confrontation, Salmond hopes that with a re-emergence of a Conservative government in the United Kingdom, he will be able to use this as a way of dividing Scots from other citizens of the UK.

“And he’s not going to succeed, because not only do most Scots not want that, but no Conservative government will give him the opportunity to achieve that.”

The veteran political figure, who served as the Scottish secretary during the poll tax fiasco and the Lockerbie bombing, highlighted the fact that the Scottish National Party has failed to secure any support from the nation’s leading daily newspaper The Scottish Sun, which unlike its English counterpart, is yet to back a party.

The early to mid-nineties saw the Scottish Sun – in its infancy at the time – back the nationalists for several years, bearing high-profile front page campaigns for its ally, before ditching the beleaguered party for the Labour.

Rifkind said: “What is interesting – and the SNP must be very worried – is that at a time when the Labour party is hugely unpopular, The Scottish Sun is not backing SNP and has decided for the time being not to make up its mind.

“From the SNP’s point of view, I would have thought that is very depressing.

“If they’ve had the Scottish Sun’s support for some years in the past and don’t have it now – when Labour is hugely unpopular – that indicates that The Scottish Sun, together with most normal, sane people, think the whole independence obsession of Salmond is simply irrelevant to Scotland’s current needs.”

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel, Deadline TV.

From brothel creeping to an audience with the First Minister

scottdouglas — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:35:19 +0000

Sex scandal specialist: Forgot to wear a cap When Doug Walker made his move from Deadline Press

Early reports make grim reading for new look Scotsman website

scottdouglas — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:34:44 +0000

It seems many people are having their say on The Scotsman’s new-look website. I think I’