It is nearly a week since I wrote anything. As other bloggers will testify, a blog is a ravenous beast. It must be fed regularly or it shrivels and dies. It's all about content. Which is why I haven't written anything. I've had nothing to say that I haven't said many times already. Such repetition … Continue reading To repeat…
Language matters! We tend to think of language as a means of expressing our thoughts and feelings. We are perhaps less inclined to consider how language shapes our thoughts and feelings. In fact, these are two sides of the same coin. We choose what we say and how we say it for the purpose of … Continue reading Ears of tin
We’re at a point now where procrastination just won’t cut it any more, where tinkering at the edges of single issues that only affect a tiny minority but make certain people look terribly “progressive” in the eyes of an even tinier bubble won’t get us to our destination.And it certainly won’t answer the big questions … Continue reading A knotty problem? Or not a problem?
Those who consider themselves part of the wave of democratic dissent risen in Scotland must decide whether they are content to remain a dissenting tendency within the British state or whether they want to be a countervailing power - and are prepared to organise accordingly.
I am daily shocked by the dumb credulousness of all too many commenting on social media platforms such as Twitter...
If there is a glowing report on any aspect of NHS Scotland that Tom Gordon can't transform into a damning indictment then there isn't one that he can't assiduously disregard.
One takes a chance describing anything as novel. It may be a cliché to say that there is nothing new under the sun, but such things get to be clichés for a reason - there is an element of truth or wisdom in them. What we do get are new twists on old phenomena or … Continue reading The power of doubt
BBC Question Time is propaganda. What it presents to the viewing audience is, not a reflection of the way things actually are, but a contrived impression of the way the British establishment thinks things should be.
About a month ago I warned that the British political establishment was in the process of ramping up its propaganda campaign against the SNP administration (see below). This wasn't exactly a bold prediction. As all but the most passive consumers of British media output in Scotland will be aware, Project Fear did not stop after … Continue reading The cornered beast
The first draft of this article was binned because it had turned into a media studies lecture on audience theory and passive versus active consumption of media messages. What I propose instead is to offer a few tips on how to improve your media diet by changing the way you consume the messages that are … Continue reading Mind what you read
Peter A Bell 