"The building looks OK. All the big windows on the front are intact"
Oh well, that's all right then.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
White Paper (THE #indyref thread)
(2915 posts)- Started 11 years ago by Morningsider
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Posted 10 years ago #
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I saw an article probably on bbc news website on influence of alphabetical order on elections where there is little difference between the candidates. For example if the argument is that UKIP are Tories, Tories are Tories, Lib Dem are Tories and Labour are Tories then there will be a statistically greater chance of being elected if your surname places you near the top of the ballot paper.
In my recent attempt to be elected onto the Scotmid board my surname, which would have placed me second on the ballot paper alphabetically was randomly assigned to the fifth and last spot on the ballot. There were four places on the board. Not that I am bitter, just the luck of the draw.
Posted 10 years ago # -
"greater chance of being elected if your surname places you near the top of the ballot paper."
That's certainly what happen to two (at least) well known/respected councillors in Edinburgh at the election before last.
One Lab, one LD, one T the other M.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Yes my ex brother in law has a surname starting with C but the other labour candidate in the ward in Ayr had surname starting with B so was above him on ballot and prevailed, this was a few years back in scenario where there was ward number reduction, so two labour etc
Posted 10 years ago # -
All this talk of central funding to rebuild GSA (depending on what your view of 'the centre' is) - was it not adequately insured?
Posted 10 years ago # -
Presumably the GSA itself knows if it is insured. May not be. The insurance costs would be massive for a unique structure like that. Underwriters would have no means of assessing the cost. Even on low grade listed buildings many insurers won't touch them. I think Windsor Castle wasn't insured for the same reason.
But it's sort of beside the point isn't it? It suggests, as does wfb's talking down of the importance of the building, a churlish unwillingness to acknowledge that the UK Government seems to have done exactly what you'd hope a neighbour might in the face of some tragedy (even in the middle of an acrimonious campaign) and some people seem to be struggling to find a way to rubbish it.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Sunday Herald says -
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It has been confirmed that there was full fire and perils insurance for the building and its contents, covering the library which was destroyed in the blaze.
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Posted 10 years ago # -
Launched today -
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... in the event of negotiations for independence or potentially to agree more powers for the Scottish Parliament in the event of a No vote.
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Posted 10 years ago # -
That insurer's not going to be too happy.
I guess they'll be checking the small print very carefully indeed.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Wee Folding Bike: On Friday I told a friend about the GSA fire and he was close to tears, having studied there nearly 20 years ago. It's difficult to believe 'just' a building can provoke such strong reactions, but it is/was unique and people who have worked, studied or visited it have huge affection for it. It may not have made any impact on you, and that's fine, but the heartfelt reaction to the fire was genuine for most people.
Regardless of where the funding comes from, I hope that it is restored as faithfully as is possible.
Posted 10 years ago # -
"That insurer's not going to be too happy."
Probably not, but if they have any PR savvy, they will be visibly involved in the re-furb process, not nitpicking, and run ads saying 'we insure some of the most famous buildings in the world and will help you if the worst ever happens'.
Clearly insurance companies make their money by things not happening - or being 'mean' with payouts, but they must(?) be increasingly aware of 'reputational damage' being known as 'the company that didn't pay out because they have the best small print'...
Posted 10 years ago # -
Insto,
I have a relative who works in the art school. He wasn't injured. That means more to me than the building. If I had to choose between him getting out and the building collapsing I would have no difficulty knowing which way to go. If that's churlish then churl away.
Pintail, which way do you think the balance of expenditure will go on this and the Palace of Westminster or the London sewer for that matter? I don't see it as a compelling reason to vote No.
Reports had said that windows had been blown out. I went and had a look, plenty of them are intact. As far as I could see all of the front ones are still in place.
It seems I talked the place down so much that I actually bothered to go see it… OK I was at the theatre anyway, but I still had a look at it.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Pintail,
If you're still going on about the Weir's donation perhaps you could explain how Vote NoBorders took out big ads in the Record last week, how they are funding cinema ads and how Better Together had 12 page colour inserts in the Record and… bizarrely, the Gruniard.
Perhaps the owls are not as they appear (only 5 points if you recognise that one, it was quite popular at the time).
Posted 10 years ago # -
The old GSA building voted favourite building of the last 175 years. I am surprised at my emotional attachment to it. But knew some people at art school and hung out there a little and indeed as a youth might take detour off sauciehall street to look at it.
There is a brand new building right next door which is fine but cannot hold a candle to Macintosh.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Candle.
I saw what you did there.
We could see the smoke from the M74 yesterday and smell it from Kelvingrove park. Boys had an audition in Woodlands.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Other architects were available I did also go to admire the churches of Alexander Greek Thomson, one had become a nightclub, the other side of sauchiehall St, but the other one in Scotland street in gorbals either still a church or derelict, you can see the tower from the slow Edinburgh Glasgow train is in curls round getting ready to re-cross the Clyde.
Demos of the 1980s when they actually made you march considerable distances used to sometimes go past the gorbals one.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Wfb, if I had the good fortune of acquiring £160M of other people's hard earned cash like they did I would want to give it away to good causes not use it to swing an election.
Posted 10 years ago # -
If you're thinking of the Cardinal Folly… it burnt down a few years ago.
As I I recall Thompson's own house was near Blythswood and was demolished a few years ago. The Egyptian Halls, where HMV was in Union St, is falling down. I think most of the upper levels have been empty for decades. it has almost wide open floors and could have been redeveloped but new builds go up instead.
Lion Chambers have been allowed to quietly decay for decades. I think the Lion Chambers is a more interesting building than the Art School because of the construction method. There is a very early concrete building on the south side which has been almost completely ignored. Even I can't remember where it is but I've seen photos.
It's not that I don't like the art school but I suspect it will have friends in high places who will see it right. The Lion Chambers doesn't have that advantage.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Pintail,
So no comment on the Vote NoBorders and Better Together's big splash and how it might be funded?
Could this whole Weir thing be some kind of attempt to stop them donating? If so it back fired.
What if they do think it's a good cause?
What do you mean by "other people's hard earned cash"? Isn't that how lotteries work?
Posted 10 years ago # -
"It's not that I don't like the art school but I suspect it will have friends in high places who will see it right. "
Not just in high places - I expect a public appeal would raise a lot in Scotland and further afield.
I was at the Edinburgh Art College degree show yesterday and there was a very full collection box at the door to support their friends at GSA.
Posted 10 years ago # -
And this web page was in place yesterday afternoon:
http://www.gsa.ac.uk/support-gsa/how-to-support/mackintosh-building-fire-fund/
Posted 10 years ago # -
The destruction of a 300 year old union that most of us in these isles hold very dear indeed, how can that be regarded as a good cause ? Even if they lose, as I very much hope they will, the divisions that they have stirred up and promoted will take decades to heal. Some good cause.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Westminster disputes that it is a Union. They claim that Scotland was incorporated into Greater England in 1707. Their language of separation and assumption of continuing state is part and parcel of their view.
You might not regard it as a good cause but does that mean that others cannot?
The Romans ruled England for more than 350 years, longer than the current Union. Should they be in power there again? is it possible that things might move on?
Did you see dancing in the streets on the 300th anniversary of the Union? I'd be surprised if most people were even aware of the anniversary. I never got the impression that people in England were aware of the Union. I was usually told that we had been conquered… although the actual time of this event was more vague.
I'm also not seeing these divisions of which you speak.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Re surname order, one of my councillors started using her maiden name as a councillor after she remarried, oddly enough without taking her new husband's name...
Nothing to do with her maiden name beginning with "A"!
Robert
Posted 10 years ago # -
Wfb, you haven't been on the receiving end of the cybernats as I have. Yes, there are already deep divisions and they are set to get worse.
Posted 10 years ago # -
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IT’S a green-fingered act of vandalism that brings a whole new edge to grassroots campaigning.
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http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/mystery-over-holyrood-park-vote-no-indy-message-1-3417902
Posted 10 years ago # -
Pintail, you have claimed that some comments on this thread were aggressive. I haven't seen that. If you feel threatened then you should inform the Police and pass on any information you have.
Could these divisions of which you speak really date back to 1707 when an unwilling people were sold into the Union?
Posted 10 years ago # -
@pintail
When I hear people waxing lyrical about the 'union' I always wonder what they think of the Irish Republic. No one I've ever met there pines for their lost union. Do you think they should reunite with us?
And I'd be very interested if you could post some of the things you think constitute 'cybernat' abuse. I don't go on Twitter or Facebook, so I don't ever see these supposed insults.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Wfb, Scotland was totally bankrupt in 1707 after the recklessness of Darien. The Union not only rescued Scotland from that immediate issue but provided a platform for a flowering of Scottish intellect, art and commerce that reached around the world. Scottish families were beneficiaries of the Union every bit as much as their compatriots in England and Wales from whom I am descended.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Pintail,
Where did you hear that story about Scotland being bankrupt?
Have you read any of the treaty? Do you know what the equivalents were for?
And have a guess what happened to our trade with the Hanseatic league after 1707.
I'd be impressed if you could prove that the enlightenment was caused by the Union. Go on, have at it.
Posted 10 years ago #
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