I see Alex Salmond is to start a new list-only political party to contest May's elections. And I thought it was going to be dull!
Some thoughts:
As I've mentioned before, I'm not a fan of parties being set up to try to 'game' the voting system. Nor am I a fan of a party being set up to try to give the current SNP leadership a bloody nose. If those form any part of the motivation here, and I think they probably do, I'm not keen.
From a tactical point of view, it will be interesting to see what happens next. By my count there are now three pro-Indy list-only micro-parties. If that remains the case, I expect them to split the vote and end up with a grand total of zero seats between them. But if we do see the other two folding in the next couple of weeks and a grand conjunction, they might be in with a chance.
My gut feeling, despite that, is that this is probably a retrograde step for independence. I'm quite sure that the Westminster government, and the BBC, and indeed the rest of our media, will spin anything other than an SNP majority as putting independence to bed for the next five years, and adding the Alba party to the mix makes that majority that much more unattainable (while, ironically, also making it more likely that there will be a pro-independence majority in Holyrood - but appearance means more than reality in politics, and the media control the appearance).
For myself, my plan had been to vote SNP/SNP, but that this was going to be my last ever vote - my willingness to support them has been hanging by a thread for some time, and if they can't (or worse won't) progress the cause of independence with significant speed then I won't be giving them another mandate. I'm now mildly intrigued by the possibility of SNP/Alba, but only if this appears to have a reasonable chance of being effective. Even then, probably not.
Of course, the last thing to mention is this: these list-only micro-parties are not the best thing in a single election, because they make the overall majority harder to attain with little chance of success themselves. But a new party needs to start somewhere, so even if the party can only get at least some traction, to be in a better place for next time, that may yet be worthwhile. Again, we'll see.
About a week ago Funsize got her hands on the Tesco magazine, and decided that she simply had to have the cake that was on the front cover. And so, for no particular reason, I found myself baking my second cake of the year. Once again, this was a job split across two days, and once again this was one that Funsize really wanted to help with... right up to the point where it came time to help.
The sponge part of the cake was nice and easy - it wasn't quite just a matter of throwing everything into a bowl and mixing, but not hugely far off. And the cake rose rather more successfully than the previous effort, which was nice!
The decorations on the second day were rather less fun - we don't currently have a cover for our mixing bowl, which meant that the kitchen was promptly dusted with icing sugar on every surface! Other than that, though, it wasn't too bad. That said, once again we were hampered by our cake tins being larger than recommended, which meant I didn't have enough covering for all the surfaces, and the raspberries were a little sparse also.
Still, it looked nice, and it tasted nice too. The sponge could perhaps have done with being cooked a little less, but that's a small tweak.
Would I make this again? Well... perhaps. It was good, and I was a little happier with it than the previous one, but on the other hand we make cakes so infrequently, and have so many recipes to try out...
A much-delayed Experimental Cookery, we actually had this meal some weeks ago, using the final two recipes from the curry box I received as a gift.
Both of these were simple, quick, and easy to put together. I have no complaints on that front. And the cucumber raita was very successful - something we'll no doubt have again.
Alas, the dahl did not have quite the same reception. Sadly, we found it rather too bland for our tastes. That's a shame, as I am generally looking for some good vegetarian options to add to our repertoire. But this one was less successful than either the chickpea curry or the other lentil curry I had tackled before.
As a consequence of all this, I can say that the cucumber raita is certainly something we'll have again. The dahl is not, except that I have some of the ingredients left to use up. So it's likely that I'll have it twice more, just for that purpose.
Overall, I've been very happy with this meal kit - of the six recipes only one really disappointed. Granted, some of them I felt would be a bit better in different circumstances, but given that we're just heading into BBQ season that's not really a problem. That feels like a successful Christmas gift to me!
#12: "Exploring Eberron", by Keith Baker
The fall out between Salmond and Sturgeon continues. It now looks like the two factions are thoroughly dug in for a fight to the death. One the one side we have Alex Salmond, Wings Over Scotland (the most-read Scottish politics blog site - but there's a good reason I'm not linking to it), Craig Murray, and now David Davis. On the other side we have Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP, and the current Scottish Government.
The claim, as has been online for more than a year, was aired at the Fabiani Committee a couple of weeks ago, and was restated in Parliament last night, is that a conspiracy of people around Nicola Sturgeon (including her husband; possibly including NS herself) arranged a crooked and unfair process to discredit Alex Salmond and, ultimately, imprison him up for crimes he was acquitted of.
If this were to be shown to be true, those involved would have to go. And if they refused, the government of which they are part would have to be removed from office. And with the election just a few weeks away, and then no opportunity for the voters to have their say again for five years, the stakes are incredibly high.
On the other hand, of course, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs, and I haven't actually seen those. I've seen extensive references to the relevant evidence, and David Davis in particular shone a light on where it can supposedly be found, but the relevant information is not in the public domain (often for good reason).
And while all four of the people I named above are very convincing, that's not quite the same as being truthful. And even being truthful is not the same as being right.
On the other other hand, the behaviour of the Scottish Government is very far from what it should have been. Having promised an open and transparent investigation, they have dragged their heels on releasing key evidence, have redacted and obfuscated extensively, and they've been generally uncooperative. In particular, the redaction of the Salmond evidence was just incompetent - the material was published and only then redacted. That had the effect of shining a big light on what was redacted... and it was really instructive to see what exactly they'd felt the need to hide.
Additionally, there's an inherent problem with the way the committee works - it has nine members, four of whom are SNP, one in a former-Green independent, and four are from the Unionist parties. Naturally, these all then vote on party lines. One way or the other politics is more important than truth.
The whole thing really, really stinks.
My view on all of this: I'm on the side of the truth, wherever that lies. As I said, if there was indeed a conspiracy to fit up AS, then those involved need to go, and if they refuse then the government needs to go (even though that would absolutely mean the end of talk of independence for at least five years). Conversely, if there's nothing to this, then that should also come out in the wash - and those accused allowed to carry on without a blemish on their character.
Unfortunately, it looks very much like we're not going to get that. We'll get some sort of wishy-washy nonsense from the official committee report, the SNP will spin this for all they're worth as a total vindication, the Unionists will spin this for all their worth as being a massive whitewash, and the voters will be left none the wiser. And we'll then have to vote based on a best guess, and with our confidence in the whole thing totally shot.
And all because nobody in the political and media circles in Scotland seems to actually be able to do their jobs.
Weep with me, for the worst has happened. I was all set to make my first coffee of the day, put the coffee and milk into the mug while the kettle boiled... and then noticed that my Gaudi mug from Barcelona had a chip in it.
On the plus side, one of our main trade shows has recently moved to Barcelona, so there's a reasonably good chance I may have to go there in the next few years anyway. If not, I daresay we'll make it there on holiday at some point. (Or, indeed, somewhere else in Spain - I collect mugs from countries, not really cities.)
But for now, alas, I'm a mug down.
#11: "Sharpe's Devil", by Bernard Cornwell
This one was taken from "Mary Berry's Simple Comforts", and it lives up to the title - it's simple, it was quite comforting, and basically it was a win. The only downside was that Funsize utterly rejected it, though she might well have eaten it happily on another day.
There's really not much more to say about this. We will no doubt have this again, and it's a very good choice for a meal if you need something that scales up to large numbers.
#10: "Sword of Destiny", by Andrzej Sapkowski
