scotland at Brave New Films

Scottish Wildlife

2008-11-06T09:55:48Z

Charlie Waite and Laurie Campbell explore (with their cameras) the Western Isles, in search of the wildlife they love and respect.
www.environmentfilms.org

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Re: how to wear a kilt

2008-10-24T10:52:26Z

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Could the major banks actually "learn from the peasants," as it were?

2008-10-12T11:33:26Z

A rather interesting item from The Sunday Post of Dundee, Scotland, perhaps the single-most-read newspaper in the world, according to Guinness:

THE country's major banks are turning to an unlikely source for a hand during the cash crisis.
Airdrie Savings Bank, Britain's last independent bank with just 60,000 customers, seven branches and 106 staff, isn't just surviving during these turbulent times, it's thriving.

And a succession of bigger names, like HBOS, are turning to the ASB for assistance.
The 173-year-old Lanarkshire institution has had a succession of banks coming cap in hand recently.
Significant
General manager Jim Lindsay explained, "As we have reasonably significant funds to invest, other banks have been asking if we're interested in depositing money with them. As the wholesale markets have virtually dried up, banks have to look elsewhere.

"Loans and advances to banks totalled just short of £63.5 million to the year ending October 31, 2007. This year it will be somewhat higher, but we don't want to have huge swings year on year.

"We have to be prudent, as all our funding comes from our customers."

That is part of ASB's unique approach. A voluntary board of trustees looks after the interests of depositors rather than a corporate boardroom.

"We don't have external shareholders. It's the depositors who own the bank, really, so the bank acts on what's best for them.
Profit
"We do have to generate a degree of profit but that's our only capital. Any profit is retained for the interests of our customers.

"That over-riding structure is what keeps the ethos and culture as it always has been."

ASB has also seen an upturn in deposits from customers, again bucking the current trend.

"We're taking more deposits than usual, especially at this time of year. This is from both existing customers and new patrons who are realising it's a reasonably safe place to bank."

Airdrie Savings Bank remains more than happy to stay at least a few paces behind the rest of the banking world and keeps its operations small-scale.

It's yet to join the online banking revolution, although Mr Lindsay said Internet access would be introduced within the next 12 months.
Philosophy
He also recognises that online banking appeals to younger customers, who have always played an important role in the bank's philosophy. Since 1924 the bank has visited schools in the area to encourage them to save.

"We deal with 80 schools. We try to encourage people to save from an early age and we want to help children understand banking. We recognise Internet banking is essential for them."

It all could have been very different if ASB had succumbed to pressure and joined up with TSB in the 1980s, as the other savings banks did.

Jim said, "The trustees came under pressure from other savings banks and authorities to become part of that set-up.

"They decided it wouldn't be in the best interest of the local customers. It now looks like a good decision from the bank's view."
Reserves
During the bank's most recent financial year it earned pre-tax profits of £656,000 and reserves increased to £14.1 million. Total assets were £130.4m.

It has continued to do business its own way since taking its first deposit on January 21, 1835. ASB didn't open its second branch, in Coatbridge, until 1916, and followed that with offices in Bellshill, Shotts, Muirhead, Baillieston and, most recently, Motherwell.

It's only in the last 25 years they have started a lending service.

Jim added, "Being able to celebrate 175 years will be fantastic. Our 175th is the same year as the 200th anniversary of the first savings bank. I don't see why we can't carry on and look forward to our 200th.

"People will always need a safe home for their money."

(IIBC, Airdrie Savings Bank is technically considered a mutual savings bank, among such concepts that would fit the desideratum of certain Elmer Gantryesque types for a "Christian Banking" model as they have long wanted to see developed--and especially so now more than ever.

(Or do they?)

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Calm whisper of the praying which heighth of the celebration noise you inform: The Exaggerator (And forget thou not The Exaggerator Collection)

Authors@Google: Alan Black

2008-10-31T21:29:49Z

Alan Black visits Google's San Francisco, CA office to discuss his book "Kick the Balls." This event took place on July 30, 2008, as part of the Authors@Google series.

When Alan Black was a child growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, soccer—or what he calledfitba'—was the be all and end all. His experience was not the little league, boys-of-summer stuff of modern America. For him, it was life and death. Now middleaged and living in California, Alan finds himself coaching a team of eight-year-olds in his beloved sport—and nothing is going right.

For a start, the kids are no good at soccer. Secondly, they're pampered. Born and bred on the sport, Black's hardscrabble Scottish upbringing consisted of playing tough and victory at all costs. Needless to say, his coaching methods are a far cry from the "winning isn't everything" mentality his little leaguers have been reared with; and players and parents alike are shocked as Black attempts to transform the losing team through drills and bombast. Alone at night, watching evangelicals on TV, Black finds himself searching for some truth in the culture he finds so bizarre. And it's with the Tigers that he feels most out of sync—faced with a mix of soft suburban children, a raft of overprotective parents, and an Iranian co-coach called Ali. Told with Black's uproarious Scottish sensibility, Kick the Balls follows the abrasive, irreverent, and hilarious coach as he contends with a team that winds up with a zero-win record.

Both a celebration of his own tough childhood and an account of one man's navigation of an alien culture, Kick the Balls will delight fans of well-told, laugh-out-loud memoirs.

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Re: Scotland

2008-10-26T09:30:29Z

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People & Power - Rural revival? - 13 Apr 08 - Part 2

2008-10-22T21:30:56Z

People & Power examines rural communities that build sustainable futures from within.

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People & Power - Rural revival? - 13 Apr 08 - Part 1

2008-10-22T21:30:55Z

People & Power examines rural communities that build sustainable futures from within.

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WH Press Briefing, January 2, 2008

2008-10-17T03:31:03Z

Dana Perino White House Press Briefing, January 2, 2008

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Scotland seeks 'freedom' from UK - 28-Dec-07

2008-10-21T03:31:14Z

The Scottish Nationalist Party has promised to bring about independence for Scotland, separating it from the United Kingdom.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports from the Scotland-England border on the possibility of a split.

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Michael Palin - The "Holy Grail" Diaries

2008-10-23T15:31:00Z

Complete video at: fora.tv

Monty Python co-founder Michael Palin reads an excerpt from his book, "Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years," discussing his experiences on the set of the 1975 film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

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The Oxonian Society's Annual Gala honoring Michael Palin, one of the founders, stars, and writers of Monty Python.

Michael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries.

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Fiona Hyslop MSP on Trident

2008-10-19T15:30:51Z

Fiona Hyslop, Scottish National Party MSP, on the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, speaking about why the UK's nuclear weapons system shouldn't be replaced.

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Greenpeace campaigner at Faslane nuclear weapons base

2008-10-24T03:31:03Z

As Greenpeace blockades the nuclear weapons submarine base at Faslane in Scotland, campaigner Louise Edge explains what we're doing and why.

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Idi Amin Dada

2008-10-16T03:31:40Z

The Young Turks: Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz. If you ever wondered about the Ugandan dictator's full title, click here. Watch live from 6-9AM ET on www.theyoungturks.com. Listen from 6-9AM ET on Air America Radio

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Why Walk 1000 Miles?(original edit)

2008-10-16T15:31:31Z

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Tommy Sheridan Time To Go Demo 23 Sept 2006

2008-10-20T21:29:51Z

http://www.solidarityscotland.org/
Tommy Sheridan of the organisation Solidarity : A new movement for socialism in Scotland
Below is a statement taken from the solidarity website

We share a historic responsibility to provide people in Scotland with a socialist alternative to the pro-market agendas of New Labour, Tories, Liberal Democrats and the SNP. Many working class voters are so disillusioned with politicians that they do not vote at all.

The war in Iraq and Afghanistan continues its deadly course and Lebanon lies in ruins; this is the latest stage in a regional conflict at the root of which lies the same free-market agenda that has devastated working class communities the length and breadth of Scotland. Immigrant communities are under attack, Islamaphobia is on the rise and our civil liberties continue to be undermined.

The scale of anger and disillusionment with New Labour is growing and the need for that socialist alternative is more urgent than ever. Sadly, the SSP is no longer able to play that role.

We agree it is now only possible to take the socialist movement forward by immediately launching a new political party that will become, in time, the broad party of socialism in Scotland : bigger, better and bolder than that which has gone before, a fresh movement with an attractive, pioneering, and inclusive spirit, welcoming to all who join, irrespective of ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation or disability.

We will demonstrate

SOLIDARITY WITH those fighting against low pay and oppression.

SOLIDARITY AGAINST poverty and discrimination in all its forms.

SOLIDARITY FOR an independent socialist nuclear free Scotland.

Our new party will be

A campaigning movement against social injustice and poverty, for a decent living wage and pensions for all, against hospital closures and local service cuts, for empowered communities and trade union rights, in opposition to racist discrimination and bigotry and all forms of oppression, for our civil liberties, and for public ownership and democratic control of our major industries, land and assets.

A democratic movement for an independent socialist Scotland, a modern pluralist republic that harnesses our collective energies, talents and wealth for the benefit of all our citizens while safeguarding and respecting individual freedom in all its aspects.

A workers movement that will support trade unionists and all workers in struggle, fighting for the rights of workers in Scotland and internationally whether or not they are already organised in a trade union, for the repeal of all anti-trade union laws.

An anti-war movement opposing all imperialist wars wherever they occur and the current occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine.

A grass roots movement that will be active in campaigning around the issues that matter in all parts of Scotland, from the borders to the Northern Isles, from the Hebrides to the oil rigs of the North Sea, in our streets, in our communities and our workplaces, reaching out to people, and engaging in constructive political debate.

An environmentalist movement campaigning against new nuclear power stations and for the removal of Trident nuclear missiles from the banks of the Clyde, campaigning positively for massive investment in renewable technologies, and a truly integrated and modern publicly owned transport system, for environmental justice for all.

A young peoples movement that aspires to be the natural political home for young people, supporting campaigns for a decent minimum wage, free education and affordable housing.

An internationalist movement committing ourselves to solidarity with working and oppressed peoples in struggle across the globe, engaging with and supporting international resistance to capitalism, neo-liberalism and globalisation.

A socialist movement that fights for the redistribution of wealth from big business and the millionaires to working class people and their families.

We call on everyone who shares our vision to join us.

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Rose Gentle Time To Go Demo 23 Sept 2006

2008-10-20T21:29:53Z

http://www.mfaw.org.uk
Rose Gentle, mother of Gordon Gentle killed in Iraq June 2004 speaks at Time To Go Demonstration

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