writing
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Canada and Scotland aren’t so different: both quietly distinct from a bigger, louder neighbour, both caught in decisions made somewhere else. Trump’s “51st state” jokes about Canada aren’t so far removed from what Scotland has heard for years. It wears you down, but people keep asking anyway.
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Went in expecting a zombie film and came out thinking about Brexit. 28 Years Later reads like an allegory for a country cut off from the world, and it asks a question that still feels unresolved almost ten years on: what kind of place do we want to be now?
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A US jury found Greenpeace liable for $667 million in a SLAPP lawsuit brought by a fossil fuel company, a tactic designed to bankrupt critics rather than win on merit. Now Greenpeace International is fighting back in a landmark case that matters far beyond just them.
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English by birth, German through my grandmother, living in Scotland, and named “Ireland” for reasons that have nothing to do with Ireland. A look at the name I chose for myself, the one I left behind, and the strange family threads that got me here. The Guinness, at least, is real.
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Shouting at the telly, pacing the room, laughing and swearing, the usual. After years of decline, false dawns, and near-misses, Oldham Athletic came from behind twice at Wembley to win in extra time and get back into the Football League. Still doesn’t feel real.
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Took a first drive over the new £114 million Renfrew Bridge, open just a day and already a good alternative to the Erskine Bridge or Clyde Tunnel. Wide, smooth, still quiet, and apparently possibly a lifting bridge too, though that’s still unconfirmed.
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I’ve finished Couch to 5K twice, and both times my trainers ended up back in the cupboard soon after. This time, sidelined by a back injury but hoping to start again, I’m wondering if running isn’t something you finish at all, just an ongoing conversation between motivation and habit.