Like a Virgin...

A while ago I wrote about the sensational audition of a nun called Sister Cristina on Italy's version of The Voice.  Unsurprisingly to this blogger, she won the competition.  Well, she's about to release her first single, a very good version of Madonna's 'Like a Virgin'.

Here it is:

Enjoy!

Well Scotland...

You blew it big time, didn't you?

The referendum for Scottish Independence ended almost four weeks ago, and it is only now that I feel I can write anything down.  What I am about to write is from the perspective of a 'Yes' supporter.  As I live in England I was not allowed to vote.

So here are my ramblings about various aspects of the referendum.

First of all, let's look at the 'Better Together' campaign.

I have never witnessed such an awful campaign in all my life.  I had to watch, sometimes open-jawed, at the sight of Labour sharing a platform with the likes of the Conservatives, UKIP and the Orange Order.  They told us (including Labour Scottish MP's) that we could not be a country on our own.  We would have no currency.  In fact, Johann Lamont, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, told us it was not in our genes to make political decisions.  Unbelievable!  The media threw everything at Scotland, except the kitchen sink in the way of lies, lies and more lies.  It was a relentless and uninspiring campaign.

On a much brighter note, the 'Yes Scotland' campaign was much more positive.

They sold us a vision of aspiration.  We can be, we can do and we are good enough.  Sites on the internet such as; Bella Caledonia, Newsnet Scotland and Wings over Scotland proved to be invaluable sources of information and insight.  The energy and buzz created by the Yes movement was never ever matched by Better Together.

To prove my point, here are two images depicting outdoor gatherings from both sides of the debate:


Better Together

Yes Scotland

Now, which one do you think looks like the kind of event that you'd go to?

Despite the fact that the No vote won it in the end, my real, problem is with the three so-called leaders of Westminster coming up a few days before polling to make some rash promise to offer more powers to Scotland if the people voted No.  This was never about more powers, it was about self-determination.

I genuinely believed that when the No vote won that that would be the end of the Yes movement.  I couldn't have been more wrong.

Membership for the SNP has trebled to over 100,000 members, whilst the Greens and Scottish Socialists have doubled their membership numbers.  All great to see.  In fact, I myself joined the SNP because I want to help and contribute to my country gaining self-determination.  So, I need to see what else I can do.  Bella Caledonia, Newsnet Scotland and The Common Weal are all looking at expanding their services to help combat what is seen as the established media's biased coverage.  Things are positive and moving in the right direction.

I am no political pundit but I think that Scottish Labour are in trouble, to the point where I believe that they are finished in Scotland as a political force.  I expect to see the Green Party make great in-roads.  The Scottish Socialist Party are a bit of an unknown quantity to me, but it will be interesting to see that they do.

So, all-in-all I feel lifted from that crushing disappointment and I am full of enthusiasm and optimism that Independence for Scotland will still be achieved.

If anyone thought that the no vote would send the Yes voters running, they were wrong.

We are not going anywhere! 

Compassion missing...

This weekend on Twitter there were two stories that caught my eye and highlighted, to me, just how low we have sunk as a nation since 2010.

This image seemed to get a lot of mentions:

These are the now infamous 'homeless spikes'.  That's right, we've now started to target the homeless and deny them places to sleep.  Have we really become so selfish, self-centred and heartless?

Spikes are not the solution to our homeless problem.  We need to deal with the causes of homelessness and provide a support network to help re-build these peoples' lives.  We need to care for them: not shun them.

The other story is the one of Annette Francis (picture below):

Who is she?  She was 30 years old and had a son aged 11.  She suffered from a mentall illness condition similar to being bi-polar.

When DLA was scrapped and replaced by PIP, she spent six months without receiving any benefits. Unfortunately, her distraught family are still waiting for the results of the post mortem to find out exactly how she died.

Both of the above show a worrying shift in attitudes in the UK.  In the media and from our politicians we have seen an increasing demonisation of: immigrants, the poor, the ill, the needy, you get my drift.

Is this how we want to be?  Is this the 'Big Society' coming to fruition?

Is our compassion missing?