Monday, 19 May 2008

Strange findings!!!

Saw this article today and was most bemused. Particularly the line "Studies have shown that living in one of Scotland's most deprived communities increases the risk of heart disease as much as being 10 years older or having diabetes."

As far as I'm aware, living somewhere shit isn't the problem, it's how you deal with it and much more to do with diet and lifestyle choices, such as smoking, alcohol abuse and how often you're willing to 'go large'.

Still, they're the experts...

Thursday, 15 May 2008

Uncle Tom Fraser

Fresh from telling us what a great job Wendy Alexander is doing in the Scottish parliament, councillor Terry Kelly responds to my link to what I think is a pretty decent wee spot of Satire at her and Labour's expense with the news that the journalist is better known as "Uncle Tom Fraser" .

Now, I'm familiar with the term, from Muhammed Ali using it to cause great offence to Joe Frasier. As I understand things, it's an insult used by Black Americans against other Black americans when they think that those black americans are behaving in a subservient manner to the white authorities. It's a Black against White kind of thing! It's a racist thing too for my money. It's an insult based on the premise that those black Americans are somehow betraying their fellow black Americans through their attitude to the white American authorities. I know that it is an insult that caused Joe Frasier a great deal of distress.

Where I'm kind of stuck though is why a white Political journalist in Scotland should be called an 'Uncle Tom'. It seems to me that those people calling him an Uncle Tom feel that he is somehow betraying them. Why should Douglas Fraser be beholden to the Labour pary? I don't know Douglas Fraser's history by the way, which is why I have asked Coucillor Kelly 3 times to explain who calls him 'Uncle Tom' and why.

So far, I'm it turns out that I'm not as clever as a I think I am .

Does anyone know? Is Douglas Fraser actually known as 'Uncle Tom Fraser' ? If so, why?