Edinburgh Airport last night. Passengers from 3 flights bussed to, and then herded through a narrow entrance to climb a staircase, to then descend another in order to join a massive queue at passport control! It's a dreadful experience, which feels almost third world, and a terrible welcome to our capital City. And who owns Edinburgh Airport? The highly profitable Vinci Airports (French) and Blackrock! The great arguments for privatisation included modernising and responding better to customer demands, but what we've ended up with in Edinburgh is fat cat profit over national pride.

People's handwriting was simply beautiful 122 years ago. – at Batalha, Portugal

A very happy birthday to my mate, and fellow Scot, @JamesMelville. He's one of the few people I trust, and he's always on the side of reason. I wish him many happy returns of the day! – at Scotland, United Kingdom

I don't generally plug books, or indeed anything else, but if you'd like an insight to how corporations, banks, and, in particular, the US government, have clubbed together to rule the world this book by @jperkinsauthor is well worth a read. It actually explains a lot of what is going on right now.

This is an impressive piece of joinery! Nadim Group, Egypt. – at Cairo, Egypt

Watching from the UAE. This was my cat Scrotum, in a Christmas tree. – at Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Awesome! 💪🏻 #Wimbledon #tennis

We are blessed with some of the best Raspberries & Strawberries in the world! ♥️ @BalungieFarm #Angus #Scotland – at Monifieth, Scotland

The more I travel, the more I appreciate just how similar, and how different we all are. Apparently, Nelson Mandela, upon returning to South Africa in the days of apartheid, was filling out a landing card, which included the question: "what is your race?" Apparently he drew a line through the options given and simply replaced them all with the word "human". Of course he was right, and yet, more than 30 years after the end of apartheid in South Africa, we are, as a human race, more divided than ever. Whilst we all share the same basic instincts, we have not all evolved at the same pace, nor indeed in the same direction. The world is still divided by East and West, by North and South, by wealth, by religion, by history, by culture, by values, and yes, still, by skin colour. Whilst we're programmed to be compassionate (some more than others) we're also programmed to survive, to protect our family, and to defend our own tribe, and this sometimes puts us at odds with helping others. As the world gets smaller competition for resources gets greater, and we face the unpleasant dilemma of prioritising our survival over the survival of others. Often there's an attempt to resolve such dilemmas by convincing one group of people that they are superior to another, or that one group has some special right to something or somewhere, or by demonising a particular group for one reason or another. In cold analysis this explanation looks pretty grim, but nature is often cruel. Whilst man has the potential to be terribly destructive, he also has the potential to be incredibly caring. He tends to gravitate towards the former when he's threatened. I think the current political crisis in the UK is primarily because so many ordinary Britons believe multiculturalism has been forced upon them by a ruling class that does not represent the people. Ironically "multiculturalism" is actually a cornerstone of British culture, but there is little doubt that the speed and the scale of immigration over the last 20 odd years has defined our current political landscape. Sadly, the pendulum of a society’s psyche tends to swing from one extreme to the other, and it may take some time for the United Kingdom to recapture its most enviable reputation as being one of the fairest countries in the world.

Sunset behind the Tay Bridge this evening #Scotland #Dundee – at Dundee, Scotland