However, the general fundraiser for 2024 has so far fallen well short of its target. You might remember that I said at some point last year that if the fundraising fell short, I would just carry on with the blog for as long as I possibly could and then stop. I'm getting very close to reaching that point now. Our political opponents may sneer about "grifting" but the reality is that I've been living on a shoestring for the last three years and lurching from mini-crisis to mini-crisis. It's about just barely staying afloat, not about buying luxury yachts.
As I always say, writing Scot Goes Pop is not a full-time job and I have other sources of income (although fewer than in pre-pandemic times). But it is the equivalent of an extremely time-consuming part-time job, and to drop everything when a new poll comes out requires time and flexibility. I know there are some people who think it should be possible to be a prolific blogger as a sort of hobby or 'personal contribution', but all I would say is try it and see how far you get. Eventually you'll run out of time or money or both. I can think of at least two high-profile political bloggers who once made a virtue out of the fact that they would never accept donations but who ended up doing exactly that. It's not about being hypocritical, it's just about learning from experience.
(Incidentally, I know I didn't drop everything on Monday to blog about the Norstat poll when it came out, but that was partly because there was an extremely lengthy Alba committee meeting that required a lot of preparation.)
I recently had a bracing chat with a family member who basically told me that the game was up. She said she admired the way I had made Scot Goes Pop work for so many years, but that the political situation had changed through no fault of my own, and I had no choice but to move on and spend my time on other things, because sufficient funding was never going to be forthcoming now. What she was getting at was the so-called "scunnered middle" problem. In other words, Scot Goes Pop used to attract funding from across the independence movement, but now I'm caught between two stools. SNP leadership loyalists are annoyed at me for joining Alba three years ago, but the more radical elements don't necessarily give me any credit for joining Alba, because I don't believe the SNP should be totally destroyed or whatever. The funding base has therefore narrowed to those in the "scunnered middle", or to those who disagree with me on some points but who value a plurality of views in the pro-indy alternative media.
I want to prove my family member wrong, but it's getting close to the last chance saloon. The frustration is that if everybody who reads this blog over the next week donated just £2, the problem would be solved instantly, but of course the world doesn't work that way.
If you'd like to see Scot Goes Pop continue during general election year, the fundraiser page can be found HERE.
However, if you have a Paypal account, a better way to donate is by direct Paypal payment, because the payment usually comes through instantly and fees can be eliminated altogether depending on the option you select from the menu. My Paypal email address is: jkellysta@yahoo.co.uk
I know a small number of people prefer direct bank transfer, and if you'd like to do that please email me and I'll send you the details. My contact email address is different from my Paypal address and can be found on my Twitter profile or in the sidebar of this blog (desktop version of the site only).
" those who disagree with me on some points but value a plurality of views in the pro- Indy alternative media." I guess I would fit in to that category and that's why I regularly donate.
ReplyDeleteToo many anonymous posters just post one or two line snidey comments. They tend to be SNP loyalists who based on the lack of funds currently enjoyed by the SNP never even put their hands in their pockets for the SNP that they claim to support never mind anyone else. Mean, miserable narrow minded people.
Garbage.
Deleteifs , just maybe, you may put individuals off ? Who would wish to be associated with your regular rants and abusive comments.
DeleteEvery time the fake IFS posts another person joins the SNP
DeleteKeep up the garbage and hate IFS, great job you're doing, thanks
But at least people can associate with IFS if they want to, since at least s/he gives a pen name - as I do - here.
DeleteWhereas you are a random anonymous person indistinguishable from a sea of such folk on this blog.
Southside Ian
WGD's top nasty Dr Jim at 6.30pm posted previously that it was all lies that the the SNP membership was declining and in fact it was increasing thanks to people like me. It was you Jimbo who was made to look the gullible fool that you are when first Murray Foote resigned for lying about membership numbers and then Sturgeon's husband also had to resign for lying about the numbers. It wisnae me lying it wisnae me being fake. Amazing you have the brass neck to even mention the subject again Jimbo. I deal in facts Jimbo you deal in personal abuse. It's true I hate what Sturgeon's gang did to Salmond and it's true I hate what Sturgeon's gang have done to the SNP but unlike you Jimbo I don't post lies.
DeleteThe other anon insults at 5.37pm and 5.43pm just demonstrate what I said in my initial post.
Southside Ian thanks for the support. I am a he and not wee as I have posted many times on SGP.
Deletebrit nat underminer. Not interested in independence.
Delete" Mean, miserable narrow minded people" - " post one or two line snidey comments" - anon at 10.15pm you fit the bill perfectly.
DeleteAnon at 10:15 has a new buzzword from yesterday, 'underminer'. Don't ask him what his solution is though, he just disappears to sulk on the sidelines.
DeleteJames, is putting ads on the blog/site going to help make up part of the difference, given current pageviews?
ReplyDelete@Russell. Everything I’ve heard about ads in recent years is the money just is not there. Not on podcasts, not on small / Indy minded news sites and certainly not in blogs. Just look at the National and all their pleading for cash. It’s a harsh environment when everyone’s supposedly on TikTok.
DeleteThe in thing to do nowadays is membership program with perks like member’s only posts and podcast; which you release later to the general free audience to induce them to cough up. A lot of bother but everyone who earns their living from politics writing outside of the mainstream media is at it now.
If you don't want to donate that's your call but no need to give a long explanation.
ReplyDeleteWhat a horrible comment to leave on someone's blog. Does that make you feel better about yourself?
ReplyDeleteBreaking news Murrell charged with embezzlement of funds. What's Jimbo and Skier and other WGD numpties going to say now as they have been posting for months now disparaging the investigation.
ReplyDeleteImportant to note these are still only allegations and he can be found not guilty.
DeleteOf course it is true he can be found not guilty or guilty or not proven.
DeleteIndeed, innocent until proven guilty.
DeleteI refer mylud to the PO managers cases......
DeleteAnd I would like to refer m’lud to the popular expression “knowing upon which side one’s bread is buttered.” With due respect.
DeleteAlso relevant that Nicola Sturgeon was not charged.
ReplyDeleteNot yet anyway.
DeleteSalmond was found not guilty. That wasn’t enough for her though.
DeleteJudge a person by their standards. Scotland is watching you, Nicola.
It is a horrible comment but that is par for the course from Dr Jim.
ReplyDeleteWhat it does show is that the SNP should never have had a married couple holding both the roles of Chief Exec and Leader as I posted on here many times and got abuse from numpties. WGD numpty Dr Jim regularly posted that such an arrangement was just fine and is normal - absolute nonsense and he knew it.
ReplyDeleteWill the trio interviewed by the polis still continue not to be suspended from the SNP? Disgraceful double standards.
“So sorry to call you up at night, but after an uncomfortable conversation with you know who, it’s time for us to talk about your position, Dorothy.”
DeleteWell Murrell has resigned from the SNP. The other two should be suspended but has Yousaf the bottle to do it.
DeleteCredit to Murrell for resigning.
DeleteAbsolutely laughable comments from propagandist Irish Skier on WGD. Murrell is now an ex office manager who has done a great service to the SNP. Another numpty says it is all MI5 doing - possible contempt of court there.
ReplyDeleteYes, I couldn't resist a quick visit to WGD btl to see how Comical Ali Skier and the rest of the apparatchiks are interpreting events.
Delete“Ok, so PM’s been charged with embezzlement. This puts the SNP in the clear in terms of any wrongdoing”
Delete“There you have it. The BBC squirms as it is forced to name the alleged victim. Just like that. The whole thing is turned on its head.”
“I just donated to the SNP. If the charges have any basis, the wider party are my fellow victims and I will do my bit to help.”
The skiing is spectacular tonight.
"The skiing is spectacular tonight."
DeleteBut all downhill without benefit of skis, and off piste to boot.
Ditto.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck though, James.
His doctorate is in animal experimentation. Wonderful chap.
ReplyDeleteWell at least we can surely all agree this wasn’t Humza’s fault and his deftness of touch is all the more palpable as he white-knuckles the lectern and gnashes his teeth. He’s surely growing into the rôle: of patsy.
ReplyDeleteJames knows I don't agree with him on everything but I agree with him on the most important thing and that is Scottish independence. Sure he has deleted some of my posts in the past but I don't hold that against him. I mean he even lets some of Dr Jim's post stand eg 6.32pm above and he is a real nasty character.
ReplyDeleteAnon at 4.50pm - perhaps he is sensitive because of the amount of abuse he gets. Personally, I don't do twitter(x) I get enough abuse on SGP.
Topher Dawson here, as I'm tired of reading comments by Anonymous. I've just chipped in £20 as James has been making a valiant effort to keep reasonable discussion going about Independence and almost all comments are petty sniping among Independence supporters.
ReplyDeleteI have been a member of the Scottish Green Party for the last 15 years because I wanted to campaign for climate action and also Independence. These vital causes are now threatened by the vicious divide over trans rights. It may surprise some reading this that some SGP members are gender critical, but after Andy Wightman was hounded out of the party a number of us were deeply troubled by the turn the party has taken. A group of ex-members and members including me wrote and signed the Scottish Green Womens' Declaration. I'm a man with no plans to change into a woman, but the women who signed the Declaration were happy for men to sign in support of it.
https://scottishgreenwomensdeclaration.scot/
This unsurprisingly got a hostile reaction and a Complaint from other members. Those of us still members are waiting with some interest to see if the party can tolerate gender critical views or whether we will be expelled. Given the demands from the LGBT wing of the party for the party to withdraw from the Bute House Agreement, this has wider repercussions for Independence. (It ought to be noted that some LGB people like Joanna Cherry are also talking sense about gender.)
My view of this is that trans people can take on the social role of the other gender, but the definition of "woman" can't be stretched to include biological men. Biological sex can't be changed.
I don't know why this issue has been so successfully promoted to capture organisations, employers and political parties, but it has had a disastrous effect on climate and independence campaigners which is why I'm raising it on this blog.
Hello Topher
DeleteThank you for your very thoughtful contribution. Although I come up as anonymous here, I sign my pen name below each submission; you do much better than me, by being properly signed in. You already have my advantage, and rightly so.
To be clear: I am anti your party, the SGP, and don't want to see them in government. Like the faction of the SGP you mention, I want to see the end of the Bute House Agreement.
I fully respect you as a gender critical member of the SGP and, moreover, one willing to raise their head over the parapet through the public declaration you and others (in and outwith the SGP) made. I also massively respect Joanna Cherry KC MP.
Trans matters: before all this gender self-ID stuff hit the headlines, this was not an issue of much political salience to most of the public. People were happy with live and let live, an obvious exception being folk who are simply intolerant. Self-ID
was an own goal for trans advocacy since it alienated so many people that would otherwise be sympathetic. "Cis" adds further alienation by attaching an identity to non-trans people that is almost universally unwanted.
Self-righteous uncompromising activists, in general and not limited to this issue, don't often care about winning the war as long as they get to self-glorify along the way to yet another defeat.
You are 100% right, of course, when you say that this "has had a disastrous effect on climate and independence campaigners" and "raising it on this blog" is the right thing to do - not least by educating people like me about gender critical dissenters within the SGP. Yes, I needed educating.
Many thanks, again.
Southside Ian
Cis is used to identify people who are same gender as assigned at birth. It is not sinister and nobody has anything to fear from this terminology.
DeleteI actually get rather fed up with the human tendency to absolutism. I am sorry but biological sex is not an absolute ! And as a biologist (and as a bit of a dinosaur) I don't even distinguish sex and gender. It is simple fact that intersex people do exist . Not everybody is either xx or xy and furthermore, differential gene expression can further complicate matters.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the comments about Andy Wightman , he was entitled to his view.
On the opposite side of the argument there seems to be the view that even young children can know that they are in the body of the wrong sex , so to speak. This is nonsensical. Most of us realise that bairns can be influenced by peers , fashion and sheer perversity. We should be very careful of medical intervention in children.
There's many other areas which are very oversimplified. For instance: renewables. I am far from convinced that we wouldn't have done better to restore our uplands to a more natural state than cover them with wind farms- I refer principally to areas of peat. Natural carbon sequestration would go hand in hand with reversing biodiversity loss. Poorly understood but this loss of species diversity is just as much a existential crisis as climate change.
Folk are aye saying that we should follow the science but so few of them bother to try to understand how the real world works - politicians included!
Hear hear
DeleteIt's inevitable that posts like this one are going to bring the trolls out, so I knew from experience that I had to be ready when I got home last night to delete a barrel-load of downright nasty stuff, and indeed there was plenty. But I'm a bit stunned by the two comments I've deleted this morning, which read as if they're intended to be well-meaning but I find hard to believe they are. To state the obvious, the pro-independence alternative media is no different from the regular media in the sense that people who write for it - or at least those who spend a significant proportion of their lives writing for it - need to keep body and soul together as they do so. Unlike Stuart Campbell I don't use the "journalist" word, but we have one thing in common with journalists and that is the need to eat occasionally. This line of "gosh, I didn't realise this was an income attempt, crikey, really?, seriously?, don't think that's going to work, mate, sorry" is pretty daft and offensive, assuming it's not a deliberate exercise in concern trolling. Nobody becomes a prolific political blogger as an "income attempt" but, yes, in the real world a funding model is required to sustain it. If you didn't realise that, you can't have looked around very much. Wings Over Scotland, Wee Ginger Dug, Craig Murray, etc, all rely on funding to keep going. Robin McAlpine initially wrote prolifically without seeking funds, which I presume was made possible by general funding for Common Weal, but his site now does ask for donations/subscriptions. John Robertson is a rare example of someone who blogs prolifically without needing funds, and if he has independent means that's fine, but it's not realistic for most of us. As for the "don't think that's going to work, mate, sorry" part of the equation, let me just say as patiently as I can that it should be clear to anyone who actually read the blogpost that the annual fundraising for Scot Goes Pop was 100% successful until 2021. I can't guarantee that it will be successful this time, but what I could certainly do without is people writing lengthy comments on this thread trying to make out that it's somehow *really strange* for me to even attempt to keep going.
ReplyDeleteJames, IFS got it right - one comment at least was exactly the same style and standard of illiteracy as DJ from the dog blog. He and a certain ex-SGP poster have nearly destroyed any usefullness of that blog.
DeleteAnon (I've no idea if you're one person or two), if you keep this up I'm going to have to either switch pre-moderation back on or turn off comments on this thread. I don't think it's too much to ask that people stop trying to actively sabotage a fundraising post. And at least one of you is clearly incapable of reading because your snide allegation is directly contradicted by the blogpost.
ReplyDeleteOn a more positive note, several hundred pounds has been donated in the last 24 hours, and I'm really grateful to everyone who has contributed.
The polis have stated that Sturgeon and Beattie are still under investigation. Has Yousaf suspended them yet if not why not?
ReplyDeleteGiven Nicola Sturgeon is a past leader (and a very good one) it is only right she be given the benefit of the doubt.
DeleteLike she did to Salmond?
DeleteWatching the lunchtime news it was sad to see Nicola Sturgeon being humiliated and hounded by reporters as she left her house.
DeleteI loved every minute of it. Not so sparky these days is she?😁
DeleteSeems inappropriate for the reporters to be disrespectful like that at what must be a difficult time for her personally.
DeleteIFS, they haven’t been charged with any wrongdoing, why should Yousaf suspend them?
DeleteI’m sure if they had been charged, they’d have resigned, as Peter Murrell did.
Fair point but you can't delete anonymous posts, sorry. Hopefully James will take the appropriate action. (It was only meant to wind up the previous poster but I accept your criticism).
DeleteNo sooner said than done. Sorry James.
DeleteIt is only right to afford Nicola Sturgeon a degree of privacy at this time which sounds very difficult for her.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't get any more intelligent by repeating yourself.😂😂😂
DeleteIt's bloody difficult for a lot of people living in the colony called Scotland. Sturgeon was charged with ending Scotland's long existence as England's colony. She betrayed Scotland - so life should be difficult for her. In 1707 the people wanted to lynch the parliamentarians who betrayed Scotland. She should count herself lucky.
DeleteDear oh dear, not this old colony nonsense again!
DeleteDear oh dear my f*****g Britnat stalker is back.
DeleteFrom the National: "Scottish Greens demand emergency summit to discuss ending SNP deal"
ReplyDeleteWith any luck they'll succeed. The NHA has been a total and very expensive disaster for Scotland, us, Independence, the SNP - and ultimately, the Greens, as it's their extremes have been calling the shots.
End BHA NOW!
The greens bring a lot to the table including youth support.
DeleteI strongly urge the SNP to end the BHA before the SGP does so first. Let’s jilt them, not let them jilt us. Optics matter.
DeleteSouthside Ian
"The greens bring a lot to the table including youth support."
DeleteYes they do, but they don't need to be in Government for that, they did it fine when part of the opposition. And in previous parliaments. The Government part is being led by the nose by the extremes of the Greens - every party seems to have extremes, very noisy, very aggressive, and for some odd reason, able to bully the vast majority. Possibly including their leaders.
I agree.
DeleteThe SGP have a constituency and will likely grow their support as more of their natural supporters gravitate to them. Good for them. But their politics runs counter - on so many points - to that or my own party, the SNP. We lose far more by any association with them than we ever gain. That was my view from the start - I was against the BHA from day one. A mistake by the SNP leadership and membership alike. We are paying for that mistake to this day. Let's the agony end without delay and let's cut our losses, for losses they are. Both we and the Rainbow Greens can then celebrate the divorce into the night.
ReplyDeleteSouthside Ian
* Let's end the agony
ReplyDeleteThis is clearly going to be high profile, so it might be a good idea to check up on contempt of court, including this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.beltramiandcompany.co.uk/news/criminal-defence/the-law-on-contempt-of-court
It wouldn't surprise me if one or two of the MSM fall foul of this. If they haven't already.