Masondx

strangely soothing :)

An MEP calls out Gordon Brown in front of the entire parliament.

The final part of a BBC Alba program exploring the history of interventions made by the British Government and it’s agencies to undermine the movements in Scotland for both home rule and independence.

This part covers the McCrone report which was classified as secret for 30 years by the Labour government of the 70s and only recently made public.

The report describes the legitimacy of Scotland’s claim to North Sea oil reserves and suggests that tax revenues raised from oil production would make Scotland amongst the wealthiest countries in Europe.

Opponents of independence regularly dismiss arguments related to oil revenues as somehow cheap or exaggerated. I agree that the case for independence cannot be based on oil alone but it cannot be ignored or dismissed as irrelevant either. Since the 70s, over £250 Billion in tax revenues have been generated for the UK treasury yet Scotland continues to have some of the worst housing, health and crime statistics in Europe.

I often also hear and read that the oil arguments are irrelevant because it’s running out. Not so says the industry, there’s potentially another 100 years supply still to be discovered. Imagine if even a decent share of that money were invested in the infrastructure, emerging industries and education facilities of Scotland for the next generation.

In any case, I believe the economic case for Independence stands regardless of north sea oil. We have a strong academic system and a long and proud history of technological & industrial innovation which could be nurtured better. I also believe we have the opportunity to capitalise on our renewable energy resources and become a world leader in the associated industries.

THIS MAKES ME WANT TO BE A BRUSH

John Stewart vs Jim Cramer
John Stewart hauls a presenter from CNBC over the coals for their failure to recognise the failure of the banking system. Worth watching all 3 parts. I think there are big issues of credibility for the press in all of this, were they complicit or just incompetent?

Here’s a simple movie I made using the Gizmoz media creator. I like the concept although the execution isn’t great yet. The performance of the player is a bit ropey (the playback of the youtube video seems very interrupted) and the text to speech isn’t amazing. I think this is in BETA though so no doubt there will be improvements. I love the fact you can export and embed the final movie though.

Oh yeah, the avatar looks hee haw like me as well despite uploading a photo of myself. Maybe its the shades.