When I worked for the Government of Saskatchewan there was often a media question session immediately after the Legislature meeting in the foyer when ministers and their opposition counterparts were quizzed about events in the debating chamber. The thing was it wasn’t just the two parties with members of the legislature who showed up for the question session. Two guys who represented a party with no seats in the assembly also turned up. Sadly, at least one of the “journalists” would ask one of the pair what they thought too and published their opinions. So, we had a government minister putting his case, or spin, on developments and two critics, one of whom had no electoral mandate having their say. This may have given a subliminal impression that two out of three people thought whatever the government was trying to do was a really really bad idea. I didn’t think it was right. But, if I recall correctly, the pair had quite a bit of money.

I had no idea that Tudor London was so multi-ethnic until I watched the TV programme Wolf Hall. There was even, apparently, an African member of the Privy Council, advising Henry VIII. This colourblind casting is admirable in many ways. But. But when sisters obviously have different fathers then it can become a distraction. What’s the story there? Has Lord Whatever not noticed his second daughter has a strikingly different skintone from himself and his wife?

Everday Canadian spelling can be pretty flexible. Sometimes it's American, sometimes it's English. One notable exception is when it comes to vehicle tires. Note the "I" instead of "Y". I put this down to the preference for US terms when discussing vehicles. Mention of a car bonnet or a boot can often result in a blank look. It's hood or trunk. Imagine my surprise when I came across a British dictionary that preferred tire to tyre. The Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary was compiled in the dying years of the 19th Century for use in the coming 20th Century. At the time there were not many motor vehicles around. But the iron band around wooden wagon wheels was known as a tire. Obviously, at some point the Y-folk triumphed in Britain.

I passed my driving test in Shetland. Lerwick to be precise. Big deal, I hear you think. There aren't a lot of places for the Emergency Stop portion of the test or reversing around the corner and I suspect many learners practised in exactly the same spot where they would be tested on the day until they could do hitting the brakes and backing up in their sleep. But one thing Lerwick did not have in the mid-1980s was a roundabout. Unfortunately there was a roundabout at the exit from the ferry terminal in Aberdeen. Many a newly qualified driver came to grief on their first trip to the Granite City. I think that's why the Shetland Islands Council used some of its oil money to build a roundabout at the north end of Lerwick, at Gremista, which wasn't really needed. But what do I know?

Maybe two years back about the only jobs I saw posted looking for writers involved training AI. I suppose some folk took them on the basis that if they didn't, someone else would. They must have known they were cutting their own throats. Two of the big uses of AI are intellectual theft and piracy. The other big use is the creation of written material. I'm told some AI programs do an excellent job of creating work-related documents such as reports and business letters. Work that big companies used to employ actual human beings to do. In a Just World those AI trainers would never work again. But somehow that's not how Life tends to work out.

Canada is now in a trade war with Trump's America. Or maybe it's more accurately called an Anti-trade War. I'm still not convinced that the old draft dodger understands what a tariff is or how they work. Anyway, here's an idea for a 50% tariff Canada can impose in retaliation. If the contributor cheque for a radio programme is being sent to an address in the USA then there should be a massive tariff imposed. Canada's state subsidised broadcaster, the CBC, seems to prefer American commentators and "experts" over the homegrown variety, even when the subject matter is Canadian and a US contribution is pretty much worthless. I'd far rather see my taxpayer dollars going into Canadian pockets. In the modern world not having American voices and opinions rammed down my throat is a major challenge. Of course, there will be occasional times when a US viewpoint is worthwhile but no-one said tariffs are a pain free option. But let's make it that the US voice is only used when it's essential.

Recently my ire was raised. I made the mistake of listening to the state radio station the Canadian Government forces me to pay for - Motto - Yesterday's News Tomorrow but Infantile American Podcasters Today. Anyway, there was some stupid TV critic yammering on about innocent people being killed to further a good cause. The good cause was forcing an area into a foreign country the majority of its residents wanted nothing to do with. Is this Canadian Government policy? Why am I being forced to pay to give ignorant stupid television commentators a platform for fascist ill-informed comment when they decide to venture into reality instead of made-up fantasy drama.

When I was 16 or 17 I had one of those little 50cc mopeds - a Suzuki AP50 if you're interested. One Saturday or Sunday I decided to ride from Livingston to Callander to look in on my Dad's old Uncle Don. But when I got to his house the woman who answered the door said he'd died a couple of years earlier but she had no details because she'd never met him. The thing is that when I got back to Livingston I was shown a family picture and the woman who answered the door was in it; older but definitely her. We knew Betty Wilson had been staying with Uncle Don. Why would she lie? To a large extent you can choose your friends but not your family.

These days I seem to be hearing more and more supposed subject experts on the radio whose sole qualification seems to that they are bloggers or podcasters. Quite often I'm unimpressed by their insight or mastery of the subject in question, or both. I hope they aren't selected simply because they are easy to find by going on the internet. I know when it comes to locating subject experts these folk are pretty low hanging fruit. Quick is cheap. But you get what you pay for.

It is illegal in Canada to deny the Holocaust happened during the Second World War. I don't think stupidity and ignorance in speech should be a crime. I don't think expressing an opinion or a doubt should be a crime. It is easier to identify nasty cranks quickly if I hear them deny things like the Holocaust. And what if it is decided to make questioning what others might regard as indisputable fact a crime? This is a very very slippery path.

You know, for a draft dodger Trump sure seems to love the use of military force. I heard him on the radio praising the most recent US war dead, following his attack on Iran, as patriotic heroes. And yet when the young Donald J Trump had the chance to serve his democratically elected leaders in the US military in the 1960s he was a no-show. A tenant of his landlord dad, who claimed to have a medical licence, certified Trump as disabled by heel spurs when his draft dodging days seemed to have finally come to an end. Not that that his disability stopped Trump playing team sports. Or that he can recall now which foot had this crippling injury. In his first term as president Trump did not bother to hide the fact that he regarded those in military uniform as mugs. He'd avoided military service; why didn't they have the brains to do the same thing? Let's hope the next German-Scottish president of the USA has better luck when it comes to crippling disability. By the way, is he still claiming Trump is a Swedish name?

I heard a senior British government advisor on the radio recently. She spoke with a pukka Pony Club accent until after she got to her fourth or fifth sentence. Then her Ulster accent became more and more obvious as she spoke. I thought it was sad that she felt she had to hide a part of her identity in order to get a good job. I recall that several of the more successful folk from my home down spoke with accents that were sort of Scottish but not identifiable with any region. I wonder if their "success" could be attributed to their non-accent. Or perhaps it was more due to them being the sort of highly driven ruthless individuals who were prepared to sacrifice part of their identity and heritage on the altar of careerism.

So, Scottish football fans at the World Cup started putting orange traffic comes on the heads of American statues. That apparently went down OK in Boston. Not so much in Miami. For once I have some sympathy with the Yanks. There's a question here of cultural sensitivity. The traffic cone thing appears to have started in Glasgow City Centre with the statue of the Duke of Wellington. There can't be many alive today whose blood would boil at that. In fact, I'd be hard put to think of any statue in Scotland which should never ever be coned. But Americans, especially in Miami, might feel differently if they felt one of their historic icons was being disrespected or ridiculed. It's their country and they have feelings, which should be respected. The Tartan Army's statue high jinx stateside have apparently led to an outbreak of coning across Scotland. Apparently some folk in Edinburgh are not too happy about this resurrection of Keelie Culture. Or is it called Weedgie Culture these days?

I've been delighted to hear so many US broadcasters take a closer look at their country's founders as they celebrate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. Yes, it was a nasty civil war that was more of a coup than anything else. Concepts like Liberty were a con. Americans just swapped remote masters in London for equally unsavourary local homegrown versions. Egality and Equality were good catch phrases but once the British were out many of those who fought the redcoats found that's all they were. Worries about the future of slavery within the British Empire were more pressing concerns for the men behind the declaration. And London's ban on settlement west of the Appalachians was an even bigger worry. Slave owner George Washington had been involved in illegally selling Indian land and unless London was taken out of the picture, he, like several other leading "Patriots" was going to jail. And it was the French who beat the British by forcing them to divert military resources to defend their far more lucrative Caribbean colonies rather than the bunch of buckskin-clad tobacco-chewing backwoods marksmen of legend. It's important to know where and what we really came from. It's fitting that Trump is president for the 250th anniversary. He's a real chip off the Founders' block.

I hadn't realised that the bonnet badge of the Royal Regiment of Scotland had been designed for the 1960 film Tunes of Glory. Well almost. The makers of Tunes of Glory had to come up with a fictional Highland regiment for the film of the book, both written by former Gordon Highlander James Kennaway. That involved a costume designer coming up with a bonnet badge. A lion rampant imposed on a saltire surrounded a wreath of, what looks to me like, thistles was decided on. The RRoS in real life opted for the lion and saltire without the surrounding spray but a crown above the lion. I'm afraid I can't be sure of the fictional regiment's somewhat busy tartan. But it may have worked better than the bastardised Government tartan, with its outsize gaudy green squares, adopted by the RRoS. The Tunes of Glory kilts, trews and thistle collar badges reappeared in Carry on Up The Khyber in 1968.

I think I'm in danger of hoisting myself by mine own petard. Getting a book published is not easy. But it seems to be easier if a would-be author comes from a Home Counties, or London, Pony Club background. The number of Pony Clubbers among the published seems disproportionate. I recall some dyslexic woman proclaiming in a posh voice that not only had she been published but her book had barely required any editing or correction. I took this to be evidence of how uneven the playing field is. The dice are loaded from the start. I thought a publisher who specialised in books by folk who had spent at least seven years of their life living in a council house might help even things up. But I've often argued that all discrimination is wrong. Two Wrongs cannot make a Right. So, my proposed Council House Press, which would favour those from less privileged backgrounds, must be a bad idea.

I heard an American supposed academic interviewed about a book published under his name about Artificial Intelligence. You may have beaten me to the punchline coz he used AI to write the book. And, surprise, surprise, it had several invented quotes in it. You'd think someone who proclaimed himself an expert in AI would have foreseen that. The Yank claimed every writer these days uses AI. Oh, no, mister, they don't. For what should be obvious reasons. But sadly, time is money and time saved by using AI to research and quickly composed AI text will soon see the cheap drive out The Good.

I just finished listening to a BBC programme about something called Toxic Masculinity. Sounds pretty nasty. I'm a guy. So, whatever I do must because of that be masculine behaviour. I don't need told what is and is not masculine. But what struck me from the programme was how what was regarded as toxic if a man says it has been for decades acceptable if a woman said it about guys. Toxic Feminism has been with us for years. In fact for decades the BBC has given a platform to some very unpleasant utterings - as long as it comes from someone without a penis. I still think the BBC would not broadcast a programme that banned all female contributors and yet one that bans men is acceptable. Let's end the double standards. And stop offering platforms for toxic sexism from anyone.

With the World Cup approaching I have little doubt that folk who know little about football will start chuntering about The Beautiful Game. These people, often North Americans, know little about football. It is game but it is seldom beautiful. In fact, I'm not sure it is ever beautiful. I think part of the problem is that most North Americans have never played it. That puzzles me to extent because it's been played in Canada for years. Edmonton Scottish FC once fielded actual Scots and some of them were pretty good players. I know one old Scottish guy who would have had the chance to turn professional if he hadn't emigrated to Canada. Now the World Cup will soon be being played in Canada, the USA and Mexico. But that's more about trying to create a lucrative professional sports income stream than any actual love or understanding of football on the part of the promoters. One look at how visiting fans are going to be ripped off tells you more than you want to know. In the USA the price of a bus ticket to get to the game has been jacked for $3 to something like $100. And it turns out that daytime temperatures at some of grounds are expected to be dangerously high for both players and fans. It's all about the money stupid. Especially if you’re stupid enough to think it's The Beautiful Game.

I've been disappointed by the high number of America. "academics" teaching at Scottish universities these days - if radio interviews are anything to go by. My reading has led me to form a very low opinion of US faculty members. I resent the time I've wasted finishing the drivel most of them produce. I have a theory as to why they are so piss-poor. It goes back to the Vietnam War and the fact that draft dodgers like Donald Trump could avoid service by enrolling in higher education. The demand for college and university places from spoiled rich brats meant the teaching faculties were expanded too rapidly. Folks who couldn't teach a toddler to tie a shoe lace ended up being taken on. The consequences are still with us - if you're taught by an idiot......... And as those students become professors themselves in succeeding generations the damage was perpetuated. The other sad part of this influx of Yanks is that it also suggests that like US higher education in the mid-60s through to the early 70s the Scottish system has been expanded too rapidly. No surprise these days when kids need a university degree in catering get a job laying tables in a greasy spoon cafe.