Monthly Archives: September 2012

Exam puzzles

Posted on September 21, 2012 by tdpcm

The row about exam results in England presents something of a puzzle. If (as the government seems to admit) GCSE’s suffer from grade inflation, does that mean that the improvements in English schools over the last decade and more are … Continue reading →

Posted in Scottish politics, UK | Leave a comment

Snob’s law

Posted on September 20, 2012 by tdpcm

I’m a big fan of Stuart Waiton and his brave one-man crusade against the Scottish Government’s censorship of football fans. He’s just brought out a new book, Snobs’ Law: Criminalising Football Fans in an Age of Intolerance.

Posted in Life, Scottish politics | Leave a comment

Whatever happened to stiff upper lip?

Posted on September 13, 2012 by tdpcm

Why are men forever crying in public these days? Andy Murray, Gordon Brown, Michael Vaughan, Chris Hoy – what’s got into them all? I used to think this deplorable wetness was a global thing to do with the general soppiness … Continue reading →

Posted in Global, Life | 2 Comments

What is Scottishness?

Posted on September 7, 2012 by tdpcm

The commentator Matthew Parris came up with an interesting way of defining cultural identity recently. It can either be based on ‘affinity’ or ‘affiliation’.

Posted in Life, Scottish politics | Leave a comment