Alastair Kneale's blog

The Scottish government has announced that it will look again at the proposed controversial hate crime legislation in Scotland. This follows a significant backlash over threats to freedom of speech that would have been the result of the legislation being introduced in its current form.

It appears to many that the drive to curtail free speech at the present time is being driven by the liberal/left. There are many dangers in this approach. The desire to prevent reading or hearing anything that you disagree with is not appropriate to the Western democratic approach. We all get irritated and sometimes angry with what some others might say or write. However, does that mean that we are not prepared to tolerate another viewpoint? Surely if someone feels that a particular viewpoint is wrong then they should have the confidence in their own viewpoint to argue against it.

Media release from Culture Vannin:

Brian Stowell stories in Manx released online

The anniversary of Brian Stowell’s birthday is being marked by a release of new audio recordings in Manx.

19 extracts from Brian’s autobiography have been voiced by Phil Gawne for Culture Vannin and released for free online to mark the anniversary of his birth in 1936.

The last positive case of coronavirus on the Isle of Man (Manx: Mannin) was recorded on 20 May, 2020, making it 93 days as of the 21st August. The island's border was closed to almost everyone on 27 March in a bid to control the spread of the virus. At the time Manx Chief Minister, Howard Quayle said the border remained an "integral part of our defences" against the disease. This decision has been seen to be the right one and was a factor in the Isle of Man becoming the first place in the British and Irish Isles to live without lockdown and to end social distancing on Monday 15th June. 

News from the Celtic League:

Isle of Man Post Office (Manx: Oik Postagh Ellan Vannin), in collaboration with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (Manx: Sheshaght Phaggad Bree Ellan Vannin) and Biosphere IOM, have issued a twelve stamp issue. The stamps celebrate the Manx National Anthem ‘O Land of Our Birth’. The images on the stamps are taken from twelve winning photographs selected from a recent competition titled ‘O Land of Our Birth’. The final choice of images reference the words of the national anthem.

A recent article by the Mannin Branch of the Celtic League draws attention to a shocking proposal by the Manx Environment Minister Geoffrey Boot to import Grey Partridge to the Isle of Man. The purpose being so that hunters can shoot them! This revolting proposal stands in stark contrast to those that truly support nature conservation. Not least the great work of pioneering Welsh naturalist and ornithologist Peter Hope Jones recently reported on by Transceltic.

NEWS RELEASE FROM CULTURE VANNIN:

Jeelane Tootagh - Diary of a Wimpy Kid now published in Manx!

Best-selling Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is now available in the Manx language.

News from the Celtic League:

An alarming news item has been published by the Celtic League into an ecological disaster that is at present unfolding south of the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. A massive fleet of mainly Chinese trawlers have spread a wall of nets some 350 kilometres (218 miles). Effectively a 'wall of death' for fish, sharks and marine mammals.  The article by Bernard Moffatt can be read below:

"A Net Wall Stretching 350 KM Spells Destruction For Marine Life

Media release from Culture Vannin:

More creative projects underway as part of Culture Vannin’s #treisht2020 scheme

The first round of #treisht2020 projects launched by Culture Vannin was so successful that it has been repeated. The scheme re-purposes grant and development money from cancelled events and projects, offering creative projects primarily to freelancers who need the work, with the option for original ideas to be proposed.