John Macleod has blocked me on Facebook because I called him a liar. He doesn't like being called a liar. But hey, if the cap fits...

He claims he has no memory of an article I published about him 20 years ago. Here's why I say he's lying. 

A wee story.

Back in May of 2000 I and my brother Donald were at Stornoway's famous Cromwell Street railings (no longer there - removed by the stupid Western Isles Council - put them back I say). Donald spotted 'Johnny Foot' (as we called him) leaving the newsagent with a tightly-rolled copy of the Island Post in his hand. The Island Post was a small local paper I produced from '96 to '01. I had just published a story centred around allegations of sexual misconduct made against his father.

Donald being Donald and ever one to stir the pot called out to him: 'Hey Johnny, is that an Island Post I see in your hand?' 'Johnny' came straight over to where Donald was perched on the railing, which meant he was considerably higher than John who is quite short. Now Donald was fully six foot tall, well built, and could handle himself in a fight. My brother Donald went missing in Turkey in 2010: http://ararathunt.blogspot.com/.

Johnny pointed the rolled-up newspaper at him and said, 'Donald, I've never hit anyone in my life before, but there's always a first time.'

I could hardly believe my ears. Wee Johnny Foot squaring up to Donald. The Mini Metro challenges the Tiger Tank.
Donald immediately bristled and began to sit more upright, glaring at Johnny, he said, 'are you threatening me?'

Well, whatever Dutch courage Johnny had been relying on up to that point suddenly deserted him and he was off down that road like the proverbial rabbit.

The editor of the established local paper at the time, the Stornoway Gazette, was a fellow called Peter Urpeth. Someone who had no love for me as he had previously threatened to sue me in a rage over a humorous little piece I had published about him. He gave Johnny two full columns down the entire length of a page of the broadsheet. A tirade full of invective and bile aimed at me and the journalist who wrote the story (Iain X. Maciver).

Strange he forgot that.

Anyone interested in reading it could find it in Stornoway public library's Stornoway Gazette Archive. It was published shortly after I published the article, I reckon within the next week or two. The Professor Foot article being dated 5 May 2000.

Within the last year or so we argued on Facebook about the article which prompted me to post it on the same thread. This was plainly a surprise to him because he didn't expect me to have copies. His immediate response was to delete everything. Then he was gone.

Strange he forgot that too.

The Facebook spat:

The YouTube podcast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1nvQFTDqRA&t=12s

The lie:

The article:

 

THE HYPOCRISY OF VIRTUE SIGNALLING

He'd plainly taken the wrong drugs. Throwing off his clothing, he ran around in the nude. Shouting and jumping up and down on the roof of a car. The police appeared and had to restrain him, holding him down until assistance arrived.
Before police assistance arrived the owner of the aforementioned car thinking it was a lone policewoman and that she might be in some danger approached the commotion. When he saw that a male officer was also present and that things seemed to be under control he thought he might as well take a photo or two. While he took the photos seruptitiously over the hedge he was spotted by the eagle-eyed male constable who proceeded to roar: 'hoy, who's that taking photos?' The picture taker then peered over the hedge and replied: 'it's OK, it's perfectly legal.' The cop then said: 'have some respect.' As if the guy they were restraining was deserving of it. The policewoman said nothing.
The man was later removed in an ambulance. Yes, an ambulance.
The next evening the owner of the car was in the sports centre sauna and met a local dentist he knew. He told the dentist the story. The response from the dentist was 'poor guy, maybe he had mental problems.'
No mention at all about the car or the possibility that maybe the guy might have been just a wee bit out of order.
This happened in Stornoway over the last couple of days.
I think this situation is rather revealing when it comes to the present malaise which afflicts modern society.
Both the male police officer and the dentist instinctively adopted protection mode. That would be protection of the offender. He needs help. Who cares about the offended party when there's important virtue signalling to be done.
And virtue signalling trumps all.
In Scotland this politically correct approach comes from the very top: namely the SNP administration.
Concerning the dentist, I can't help wondering how he'd have felt had it been his car that had received the attention.
Talk is cheap, and it's very easy to be liberal when it involves other peoples' stuff or money. That's the nature of virtue signalling - it has to be cheap - dirt cheap. That's why I hate it so much. Under its wafer thin skin lies a thick layer of sheer hypocrisy.

SUPREME COURT WINS 11 NIL.

So there you are, Supreme court 11 (playing for remain) win 11 nil.
Brexit 11 (who weren't allowed to turn up) lose by a landslide.
Well, now we know.
It seems the higher you go up the greasy pole the greater the arrogance and therefore the greater the corruption.
Unlawful? That's a eufemism in this context isn't it? If Boris has broken the law, which law has he broken? And if he has broken the law, he therefore must be prosecuted. The law must be clear or it cannot be the law.
He's accused of 'lying to the Queen'. Well, knock me down with a feather - how shocking. I'm not condoning lying to anyone, but even if he did - since when is that illegal? And what exactly WAS the lie?
It reminds me of the start of Hot Fuzz when the Sergeant mutters under his breath, 'I'd like to move to the country sometime Jenine.'
Dishonesty. Smoke and mirrors. You know what I mean.
Do they really think people came down the Clyde in a banana boat?
It's as if these Supreme Court judges have spent so long in their insulated other world that they have completely forgotten what the real world is like. The family guy clip of the old guys reading the papers and clearing their throats comes to mind.
This is more thought policing. But this time it's aimed at the prime minister: 'what was his motive?', they ask. Completely ignoring the fact that simply having a dubious or even dishonest motive is not a crime. Bad thoughts or intentions have never been actionable crimes in a truly just society. The prosecutable part is ONLY the physical action, motive or intent may help to prove a crime has been committed, but they themselves are not crimes. And neither should they be. We move into a dark place when we start prosecuting for wrong think. Ask Orwell.
It's a depressing development, but a clarifying one. At least now we have a clearer picture of the enemy forces and who exactly they are.
In this case they are the 11 judges of the Supreme Court. Now, possibly for the first time in their experience, they will find themselves in the spotlight. This, I am confident, for them, will not be a pleasant one. The reason is because rightfully angry people will now question the right of 11 individuals to sit in final judgment on an ambiguous but important question of national sovereignty.
The last time an individual acted with such hubris - he lost his head - remember that?

REV. ANGUS SMITH

Most ministers today are downright boring, irritating, just plain wrong, or all three. Angus Smith who died this week aged 90 after battling cancer was one who stood out from the crowd. Probably what contributed most to this was his famed stand against Sabbath ferries in Kyleakin, Skye, in 1965 when he was physically carried off the slipway by police officers. Drama always sticks best in the memory.

Angus had the best style of preaching: measured, slow, deliberate, precise. With proper pauses. For me, the only two other ministers in our church that stand out for demonstrating this ability to the same exceptional degree are also deceased. They are the Revs. Donald Maclean (Glasgow) and Alec morrison (Uist). These men knew how to deliver a message. No snoring under them.

It was a rare sermon of Angus's where you learned nothing new. He was very sociable, good in company and would freely discuss matters with anyone regardless of their station. He would give you his opinion honestly. He wasn't held back by concerns about what anyone might think. I rare quality in ministers. On one occasion he advised a young FP minister that the way he carried himself seemed affected, not genuine, put on. Words to that effect.

I think he became a better preacher after he left the Free Church. The reason I say this is because I heard a recording of him preaching while he was still a Free Church minister. He was preaching on the doctrine of the Millennium and during the sermon he made it crystal clear that he was an A millennarian. He stated that he believed the Millennium began at the crucifixion and that the modern time in which we live is the little season when Satan is loosed. At many points during the sermon he became so angry and shouted so loudly that the microphone went dead due to the volume. I suppose that sermon may have been recorded during his more difficult period as minister in Ness, Lewis. Angus would have been the first to admit that he was far from perfect - as all men are. I never heard him preaching in that manner while I knew him - he was ever an example of calmness. Neither did I hear him mention the Millennium.

Certainly while I knew him he had very good insight. I remember on one occasion he told me: 'No denomination has survived.' Meaning that no matter how good any part of the Christian church was at its beginning, as time went on it was inevitably infiltrated by those whose labour is to destroy. An inevitability, as Satan always works hardest on the true Church: his number one target.

The following are some notes I jotted down from sermons I heard him preach in the Stornoway FP church.

Sabbath morning: 23/10/16.

'The most fearful warfare is the spiritual warfare.'

'They are terrified by the thought of the devil appearing physically, but at the same time he is their intimate companion.'

Sabbath evening 13/8/17.

Romans 8:34.

'Christ went into the grave, went into death, and defeated it.'

'The first day of the week has far more glory than the seventh, because the seventh represents creation, but the first represents salvation.'

'"I go to the Father." More wonderful than saying: "I go to heaven."'

Sabbath morning 29/10/17.

Isaiah 6:9-10.

'Sovereignty can only be complete.'

'This coal has touched your lips: this coal gives you the authority to preach the gospel.'

'Pharoah asked Moses to pray for him.'

'People are taught Christianity is being good to your fellow man. That is part of it, but it is not the heart of it. The heart of it is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Sabbath morning 10/12/17.

Revelation 22:1.

'He fills all in all. No creature could behold the glory of God. You would have to be God himself to behold that.'

'The church is going down among ourselves but he will bring people alive in other parts of the world.'

Sabbath morning 17/3/19.

1 John 2:1-5.

'I will endeavour to say a word to the Lord's people, I will endeavour to say a word to those that are not God's people and I will also endeavour to say something to the hypocrites.'

'It's no use to say, "I was a Christian up to a certain point, but then I gave it up." That man was never a Christian, never, never, never.'

'No sinner can keep the word of God perfectly. When he can, he will no longer be in this world.'

Sabbath morning 12/5/19. His last sermon.

1 John 3:1-3.

'The world's view of hope is, "maybe", "perhaps". But the word of God never speaks in this way. Never.'

STOPPED BY MORMONS ON STREET.

Two young Mormon missionaries, girls, stopped me on the street in Stornoway yesterday and asked me a stupid question: 'What was the best thing you did today?' The taller of the two asked. Talk about scripted. I mean I've done sales jobs where I've had to ask prepared questions, but you've got to make them sound at least a wee bit convincing. Cringeable. I felt slightly embarrassed for her.
The same girl began to go on about their faith. Looking down, I noticed she was wearing brand new brown Doc Martins. Trendy.
After letting her waffle on for a wee bit I asked her why she believed what she believed. She said something about, 'just feeling that it was true.' I told her that she would need something a bit better than that if she was hoping to convince me. I went on to tell them that it must be very easy to do what they do because when you're born into a culture you obviously have every incentive to tow the party line especially when everything is laid on and paid for. Very cushy, very easy. I mean how hard would it be to be honest with yourself, stop, and actually think about what you are doing, be a bit independent and say, 'I'm tired of this nonsense, I'm getting out.' You'd be ostracized at best I'm sure. Life would go from being very easy to very difficult. Money, home, companions, all gone. Not easy. This is how they all work. One particularly famous false religion even stipulates that you must be killed if you attempt to leave. You know the one.
There are multitudes of religions of all shapes and sizes believing all manner of things - why should yours be the true one? Because you were born into it? An obviously easy reason to choose to believe something I grant you - but a good one? No.
I felt it was time to cut to the chase. I told them that Joseph Smith was a liar. That he joined the Free Masons for one day and used their secret ceremonies to start the Mormon church, that it was evil and a lie and that they needed to dump it fast and get out.
With that, I went on my way.
She called after me: 'can I say just one thing?'
'No', I said. Feeling the better for having given them short shrift.

Video link: 'In much wisdom is much grief': Ecclesiastes 1.

The Stornoway police have now started giving thought policing lectures in the Nicolson Institute, Stornoway's secondary school. One of the pupils present told me how last week a WPC in full battle dress had lectured them on 'hate crime'; gravely warning them of its deadly nature. She told them that they had nothing to worry about because they were in a 'safe space' - feel free to roll your eyes.
The UK police have been radically changed in recent years. Whereas before they were deliberately apolitical and neutral they have now been insidiously and cynically politicized. Traditional policing (like the armed forces) was genuinely and purposefully principled. Principled not to make the same kind of mistake as was made in places like Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany were they were deliberately turned into unthinking slaves of the state so they could be used as tools to promote a biased political agenda. We as a country have been motoring down this path for some years now. It horrifies me how unthinking and uncaring modern cops are. All they seem to care about is following the party line - doing what they are told - no matter what. The only thing that matters is the career. A rightly principled person could never join today's British police force.
The sad truth is that human nature being what it is people are prepared to convince themselves of anything as long as they themselves are OK. 'The heart is deceitful above all things...' Where do you think Hitler found his concentration camp guards? Why on every street corner of course.
Just take a look at the characters in this video clip. These cops did not move until they heard the word 'gay'. That was all they were waiting for. Time to make the arrest. The biased state using its automaton slaves to suppress dissent.
Video link: Street preacher arrested.