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The 70th Anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the Re-emergence of Russian Imperialism
The 70th Anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the Re-emergence of Russian Imperialism August 23rd 2009 Today is the 70th anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, signed by Molotov and Ribbentrop, the respective Nazi and Soviet Foreign Ministers, on August 23rd 1939 and prefiguring the Nazi and Soviet invasions of Poland and the start of the Second World War. The pact was hugely contentious at the time, had huge consequences and matters to this day. In 1939 it showed the bankruptcy of British and French foreign policy to resist the Nazis and their inability to form a common front with
Whatever Happened to ‘the Scottish Tut’?
Whatever Happened to ‘the Scottish Tut’? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 22nd 2009 Many years ago growing up in Dundee I felt the tangible sense of stuffiness and stodginess. This was caused by the pervasiveness of ‘the Scottish tut’ by which complete strangers felt that they had the right to go around telling others off, looking at them as if they were beneath them, and uttering that stellar rebuke, ‘the tut’. Growing up you could almost sense this attitude in the air; it seemed to linger about in the ether and give the atmosphere a heavy, thick feel which almost
Lockerbie, Justice and the Price of Devolution
Lockerbie, Justice and the Price of Devolution Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, August 21st 2009 Scotland’s Government arrived on the international stage with the announcement by SNP Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the one person convicted of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and the death of 270 people over the Scots town of Lockerbie on that fateful day, December 21st 1988, was being released. MacAskill took his responsibilities seriously and appropriately, realising the importance of his decision with the eyes of the world on him. In his demeanour, statement and subsequent interviews, MacAskill seemed to
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Afghanistan British Dead Passes 200 and The Amnesia of Imperialism
Afghanistan British Dead Passes 200 and The Amnesia of Imperialism August 16th 2009 As the British death toll in Afghanistan now passes 200 – the sheer historical amnesia in Britain, and the United States, about our involvement in this region strikes new depths. British involvement in Afghanistan is now set to pass its eight-year and is, in Gordon Brown’s words, a ‘vital’ mission to ‘make Britain safer by making Afghanistan more stable’ (1). The 2001 attack was the third invasion of the country Britain has been involved in after the 1838 and 1878 onslaughts, commonly known as the First and
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Whatever Happened to the Giants of Scotland? Life after Archie, Arthur and Bob Crampsey
What Happened to the Giants of Scotland? Life after Archie, Arthur and Bob Crampsey The Scotsman, August 13th 2009 Gerry Hassan The big boys football season starts this weekend. All across Scotland, football fans will be tuning in their radios, watching TV results, and turning to newspaper back pages and special supplements. Another year, another season, and yet something has gone wrong with the way football is presented and reported in this country. It has come to represent a very unflattering, unattractive aspect of ourselves which should give us pause for thought. It wasn’t always like this. Once football
The Progressive Conservatives and The Strange Case of Phillip Blond
The Progressive Conservatives and The Strange Case of Phillip Blond August 12th 2009 British politics are clearly gearing up for the run-in to the election. George Osborne’s speech at Demos made the pitch for the Conservatives as ‘unapologetically progressive’ and advocates of a ‘fairer society’. Mandelson slammed his old Greek yacht friend for ‘political cross-dressing’, a quality which used to the measure of Blairite/New Labour success. Several things are going on here. One is the New Labour-Cameron convergence – which Demos is unashamedly and is trying to put itself at the centre of, and become the unchallenged courtiers to the
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Breaking Out of ‘The Golden Thread of Liberty’: Understanding and Interpreting the United Kingdom
Breaking Out of ‘The Golden Thread of Liberty’: Understanding and Interpreting the United Kingdom Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, August 10th 2009 Vernon Bodganor, The New British Constitution, Hart Publishing, 319 pp., £17.95. James Mitchell, Devolution in the UK, Manchester University Press, 216 pp., £60. Anthony King, The British Constitution, Oxford University Press, 432 pp., £25. Peter Kellner, Democracy: 1,000 Years in Pursuit of British Liberty, Mainstream, 540 pp., £25. As a theoretical proposition the United Kingdom would probably win few converts because it seems such a fragile concoction. Imagine the reaction to a political scientist who proposed to create
The Secret World of Cathkin Park and Third Lanark FC
The Secret World of Cathkin Park and Third Lanark FC Gerry Hassan Cathkin Park is one of the most moving and fascinating places in Glasgow: a tribute to a past age of a city, working class culture and football. It was the home of Third Lanark, or Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers to give their full name, Glasgow’s main ‘other’ team from their inception until they went out of business in 1967. It is a magical, mysterious place. Forty two years after Thirds passed into folklore most of Cathkin Park still stands – the bowl of the concrete terrace with their
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What Gerry’s Reading
Here are some of the books that in the last couple of weeks I have been reading: Friedrich August von Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, University of Chicago Press 2007 Hayek is one of the two great bogeymen of the New Right (the other being Milton Friedman) and this is Hayek’s most famous and influential book. It is actually a powerful and convincing case against the tyranny of the state and collectivism, and a book whose eloquence and logic was widely recognised when it was first published in 1944 by even left-wingers such as George Orwell. And this despite
What Gerry’s Groovin’ To
Here are some of the things keeping my feet dancin' at the mo .... CeU Beautiful Brazilian debut from a couple of years, by this young female singer-songwriter. CeU is pronounced ‘sew’ and translated from Portuguese means ‘sky’ and ‘heaven’. This starts slowly and sweetly and a little mainstream, but hidden in it are all sorts of depths and quirky tunes, beats and melodies drawing on soul, jazz, trip hop and Brazilian grooves. Polyphonic Voices of Georgia: Anchiskhati Choir A fascinating release and departure for the stunning Soul Jazz Records with a Sacred Music series. Georgia (the Transcaucasian republic)
