Scotland Thread

[The_Munchmaster]

Just a recent photo I like from the north east of Scotland (Caithness) where I spent quite a lot of my childhood.

 

 

A heavy swell creating huge breakers pounding the entrance to Latheronwheel Harbour, Caithness.

 

[The_Munchmaster]

Parents devastated as son dies in Vietnam boat sinking

 

 

The parents of a Scottish tourist who died when a boat sank in Vietnam have said they are "devastated" by the loss of their "adventurous" son.

 

Stuart McCormick, 30, an engineer from Irvine, North Ayrshire, died in Halong Bay with 10 other holiday-makers and a local guide on Thursday morning.

 

It is thought he was asleep in his cabin below deck when the wooden vessel began taking on water while anchored.

 

Bryan and Rae McCormick said he had been having a great time travelling.

 

Mr McCormick, who also leaves a sister Sarah, 28, worked for Hewlett Packard in Erskine, Renfrewshire, before he was made redundant. He was nine months into a year-long trip around the world.

 

'Adventurous spirit'

 

The traveller had spent six months in Australia before heading to Asia.

 

Bryan McCormick, 54, said: "We are devastated. We had a couple of e-mails from him from Vietnam and he was having a great time and enjoying himself.

 

"He had an adventurous spirit. He thought nothing of setting out on this year, he was trying to go round the world and went to Denmark, Japan and Australia.

 

"He always liked trying new things."

 

His mother Rae, 52, added: "He was loving every minute of this year."

 

Stuart McCormick is understood to have been asleep in his cabin below deck when the boat, named Bien Mo (Dream Of The Ocean), went down.

 

The vessel, owned by Truong Hai Co, had been touring the Unesco World Heritage Site in Quang Ninh province.

 

It was anchored in Halong Bay alongside dozens of other cruise boats and weather conditions were said to be calm at the time of the sinking.

 

Survivors reported seeing a wooden plank on the ship ripping away at about 0500 GMT, then gushing water inundated the boat and quickly pulled it under, near Titov island.

 

One of them, Stefano Corda, 35, from Palermo, Sicily, told how in the early hours of the morning they had woken up and that the boat had taken a minute to sink.

 

He said: "We went to the exit and the boat was almost vertical. I grabbed my friend, we went out, and it was so fast."

 

All 12 people who died were in cabins on the boat. The other holiday-makers who did not survive were from the US, Australia, Japan, Russia, France, Sweden and Switzerland.

 

Another nine foreigners and six locals were rescued from the boat.

 

Vietnam's foreign ministry said the tourists who survived were two Danes, one German, two Italians, one American, one Australian, one French and one Swiss.

 

Mr McCormick's father said he was concerned about the safety of the boat and would be following up the matter.

 

Halong Bay, renowned for its hundreds of tiny islands and freshwater swamp forests, is one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations.

 

It is near the Chinese border in the Gulf of Tonkin, about three hours east of the capital, Hanoi.

 

[Flashermac]

<< Survivors reported seeing a wooden plank on the ship ripping away at about 0500 GMT, then gushing water inundated the boat and quickly pulled it under, near Titov island. >>

 

WTF? The ship was falling apart? Shades of the Royal George.

 

 

[The_Munchmaster]

Some soulful partner hunting Scottish style!!

 

Subject: Scottish Lonely Hearts –

 

Grossly overweight Buckie turf-cutter, 42 years old and 23 stone, Gemini, seeks nimble sexpot, preferably South American, for tango sessions, candlelit dinners and humid nights of screaming passion. Must have own car and be willing to travel. Box 09/08

 

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Aberdeen man, 50, in desperate need of a ride. Anything considered. Box 06/03

 

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Heavy drinker, 35, Glasgow area, seeks gorgeous sex addict interested in pints, fags, Celtic football club and starting scraps on Sauchiehall Street at three in the morning. Box 73/82.

 

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Bitter, disillusioned Dundonian lately rejected by longtime fiancé seeks decent, honest, reliable woman, if such a thing still exists in this cruel world of hatchet-faced bitches. Box 53/41

 

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Ginger-haired Partick troublemaker, gets slit-eyed and shirty after a few scoops, seeks attractive, wealthy lady for bail purposes, maybe more. Box 84/87

 

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Artistic Edinburgh woman, 53, petite, loves rainy walks on the beach, writing poetry, unusual sea-shells and interesting brown rice dishes, seeks mystic dreamer for companionship, back rubs and more as we bounce along like little tumbling clouds on life's beautiful crazy journey. Strong stomach essential. Box 12/32

 

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Chartered accountant, 42, seeks female for marriage. Duties will include cooking, light cleaning and accompanying me to office social functions. References required. No timewasters. Box 23/45

 

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Bad-tempered, foul-mouthed old bastard living in a damp cottage in the arse end of Orkney seeks attractive 21-year old blonde lady with big chest. Box 40/27

 

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Devil-worshiper, Stirling area, seeks like-minded lady for wining and dining, good conversation, dancing, romantic walks and slaughtering dogs in cemeteries at midnight under the flinty light of a pale moon. Box 52/07

 

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Attractive brunette, Maryhill area, winner of Miss Wrangler competition at Framptons Nightclub, Maryhill, in September 1978, seeks nostalgic man who's not afraid to cry, for long nights spent comfort-drinking and listening to old Abba records. Please, Please! Box 30/41

 

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Govan man, 27, medium build, brown hair, blue eyes, seeks alibi for the night of February 27 between 8pm and 11.30pm. Box 15/35

 

 

 

 

[The_Munchmaster]

Scottish Couple Claim £161 Million (US$ 258 Million) Euro Lottery

 

A couple from Largs in Ayrshire have been named as the winners of the £161m Euromillions jackpot.

 

 

Chris Weir said she and her husband Colin were "tickled pink" when they realised they had scooped Tuesday's jackpot.

 

"I even had a glass of white wine which is something I normally only do at Christmas!" laughed Chris.

 

The prize was Europe's biggest ever and was capped after a series of rollovers.

 

On the night of the draw Chris was checking their numbers on the BBC's Red Button digital text service about midnight on the television in their bedroom.

 

"I started circling the numbers I had matched but wasn't doing very well. Then on the fifth line, all the circles seemed to join up."

 

The telephone line run by Camelot for claims was closed. Chris and husband Colin sat up all night they were so excited.

 

"When we first realised we had won, it felt like a dream," Colin said. "Everything went into slow motion."

 

Life changing

 

When asked at a media conference in Falkirk what they will do with the money, Chris said: "We're not flashy people."

 

"The next steps are going to be the most difficult... with great wealth comes great responsibility," added Colin.

 

The Weirs have both had serious health conditions in recent years and have not been able to work.

 

Colin, 64, had previously worked as a television cameraman and Chris, 55, is a fully-trained psychiatric nurse.

 

The most exciting aspect of their windfall is the opportunity to travel.

 

"We have both always wanted to see the Great Wall of China and Colin would love to stand at the foot of Ayres Rock in Australia," said Chris.

 

"We also love art galleries, so this gives us the chance to visit those in Paris and in Russia. These are all things we thought we would never see."

 

They have also already decided to buy homes for their two children, Carly and Jamie (both in their 20s).

 

 

[Steve]

Wow, these many pages of Scottish stuff. Here's one more...

 

http://www.newsamericasnow.com/jamaican-goes-from-%e2%80%9ci-do%e2%80%9d-to-%e2%80%9ci-don%e2%80%99t%e2%80%9d-after-arriving-in-scotland/

 

Weds. July 20, 2011: A 24-year-old Jamaican woman went from “I Do†to “I Don’t†within minutes of getting into the home of her Scottish husband.

 

Patrice Chambers, according to the Daily Mail, dumped Johnny Gannon, her 57-year-old charity worker husband, within 20 minutes of walking into his flat in Perth, Scotland.

 

Gannon said he spent £5,000 to bring his new bride to Scotland and now is broken hearted. He claims as soon as his wife arrived in Perth, she sent him out to buy pot noodles but as he returned she grabbed her bags and told him she was leaving. She then s flagged down a car and caught a train and was gone.

Gannon married Chambers in Jamaica earlier this year and said he believes his new wife fled to Bristol to meet a Jamaican boyfriend with whom she had organized the scheme.

 

“I was looking forward to spending the rest of my life with Patrice but I think she had planned all along to do this,†he told the Daily Mirror. “My relationship with her wasn’t something I’d done by mail order. I’ve known her for two years and it seemed very much like the real thing to me. She has used me and I feel humiliated. I had a vision of happiness laid out. I feel like a bit of a fool.â€

 

 

[Flashermac]

 

 

Glasgow bottom of the class in national education report

 

 

 

A "clear divide" in education between Glasgow and Edinburgh could lead to many children never achieving their potential, a lecturers' union has said.

 

Analysis by the University and College Union (UCU) found that more than one-third of 16 to 64-year-olds in the Glasgow North East parliamentary constituency do not posess a single school qualification.

 

This puts the area at the very bottom of a league table of educational achievement in Britain.

 

Glasgow East ranked third worst with 29% of people having no qualifications, while Glasgow South West was 8th from the bottom.

 

Every Edinburgh constituency was placed in the top third for educational achievement across Britain, with at least 90% of people having at least one qualification. In contrast, each constituency in Glasgow was below the British average.

 

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said: "There is a clear Glasgow-Edinburgh divide in Scotland. One city with education and the massive personal benefits it can bring, and the other without.

 

"Education is central to people's future, yet in some areas thousands of people still have no qualifications.

 

"There is a real danger that children growing up in places where it is not unheard of to have no qualifications will have their ambition blunted and never realise their full potential."

 

'Desperately sad'

 

The top ten was filled by English constituencies. The best performing Scottish constituency, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, ranked 607th out of the total 632 constituencies with only 4.4% of 16 to 64-year-olds having no qualifications. Edinburgh West, Gordon, parts of the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland also scored well in the report.

 

Other Scottish constituencies in the bottom 20 of educational achievement are Motherwell and Wishaw (11th worst) and Airdrie and Shotts (14th worst).

 

Scottish Labour’s MP for Glasgow North East William Bain said: "Scotland’s greatest asset is the potential of our people.

 

[color:red]"It is desperately sad that that almost one in three people in Glasgow North East leave school without a single qualification. The postcode you are born into should not determine your life chances. We must make it our mission to ensure no kid falls through the net and leaves school with nothing."[/color]

 

A government spokesman said: "The Scottish government is committed to raising attainment and ambition across the board and in every part of Scotland - and we want to ensure that every child and young person in Scotland has the best possible chance to succeed.

 

"A range of initiatives from the early years right up to 16 and beyond are working alongside Curriculum for Excellence to transform education for all children and young people in Scotland, with a particular focus on those who need more choices and more chances."

 

 

 

Link

[Flashermac]

So Glasgow is Scotland's Issan.

 

 

[The_Munchmaster]

I'm from Edinburgh.

[Flashermac]