paulb

child drinking is an issue that needs enforcing.  if we don't control problem drinkers when they are young we will have them as older folks.

i know the story. there won't be a prosecution. for reasons not suitable for a forum. however great thanks to the rescuers and the neighbor that fed them.   these rescues saved those ponies a lot of suffering. truly a sad case. 
 
on a separate matter many thanks to colin the vet and ellis anderson for the help they offered our stricken pony molly. rachel was so truely grateful for the efforts they both showed. its really sad to lose a pony so again well done the rescues of those ponies. 

get your thyroid checked.full blood work up. that's not a normal aging symptoms.

maybe worth using it in lofts and under floors mice can damage wiring very quickly.some of the damage ive seen has been very bad..

thats rubbish pardon the pun.

but the point of his job is not to be in front of the media that's what the trained monkeys sorry council leaders are for. his role is to manage if he does that quietly but effectively i am happy. 

sorry that was stupid. could have easily been pulled out by the force of the sea. try a loch next time.

the modern cars light come on automatically in reduced visibility. we should copy our Scandinavian neighbours.

it really does look bad in the small harbour. should have been painted council grey to blend in.

£115 as opposed to £300. the hudl has a 1.5gb quad processor same size as the kindle.
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/tesco-hudl-1183138/review
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2300516/tesco-hudl-tablet-review/page/2
 
up to you what you pick depends what you want to do with it. as the second review says 60 quid in vouchers will double so it would be free.

very well put.

it really does look bad in the small harbour. should have been painted council grey to blend in.

interesting video will get the wife to watch it

seriously 2 years up here can be either the best or worst 2 years of your life. it normally takes that long just to adjust to living here. the winters are the real make or brake time. if you can cope with them then odds on is your going to be staying. if not they will get you running after being hit by a bad one.
 
as unlink says you either love it or hate it. its not a place of half measures. a possibly cheaper option is to buy a smaller older house and do it up. house price are not going to fall in the near or distant future. your looking at paying 10- 24k in rent. you can buy for about 60 if your lucky.
 
seriously come up if just for your wife sake . shetland is an unique place to live. and expensive and lonely if you don't fit in..

well it maybe but you have not painted a very nice picture of it. pity really as a struggling community should be working together for their joint interests.

I am beginning to think that this thread within the topic is more about the perception of "value for money' with regard to the "dogs".  Dogs against Drugs are more than just "dogs" - there are handlers and other pieces of equipment.  The seizure of heroin late last year is a perfect example of this in practice - police officers and "Dogs against Drugs" working well together.
 
Prior to the current position where the charity provides two handlers, two dogs  and the associated equipment the police used to provide one handler / dog while the charity provided the other. Now that the community / charity provide a second handler / dog the police are able to devote the former police dog post to addressing another issue - in this case the post is allocated to the Public Protection Unit dealing with offender management.
 
So, to answer your question - Yes if the money was all in the local police budget I would spend the same amount on the drugs dogs and a sign of that commitment is the marked Police 4x4 dog van. That is paid for from the police budget.
 
However you are right to ask about value for money. Personally I firmly believe that this should be expanded to look not only at the drugs dogs, but also the police and all those involved in delivering addiction services. The question we need to ask ourselves is - if we're working to the best of our ability, is the situation getting any better?. While I can answer in relation to the police and drugs dogs side of the question I'm not sure if anyone from the agencies providing addiction services is in this conversation - maybe it is a question for another topic.
 
I guess it is safe to say that you view substance misuse as an issue, so I'd value your thoughts on what should be done to address it?
 
Angus

child drinking is an issue that needs enforcing.  if we don't control problem drinkers when they are young we will have them as older folks.

Gibber, you say "an object historically loaded with racist meaning" - if this thread has demonstrated anything, it is that in the USA (according to Wikipedia) the gollywog "perhaps" (the word used in the article) had racial overtones, and again other articles referring to both good and bad in children's books ... but with the main associations being related to the marmalade jars which did not, to many, have negative racial overtones (even Lemne states himself he collected the ornaments as a child).  Which do we adopt, or are we not allowed our own historical references and preferences?  We have and own our individual her story/history.
 
Then you, yourself, introduced the negative racial association with the BNP - yes, some may have already been aware of it but I personally wasn't - so you've just introduced a racial element where there was none previously known to some people.
 
Let's talk hypothetically here.  Say I had a collection of extremely graphic sketches portraying nude women on display.  Some men and women might be offended by them.  Say the vicar and his wife were coming round for tea (not likely but hey, we're talking hypothetically).  So I'd take the sketches down whilst the vicar and his wife attended for tea.
 
But should I not have bought those graphic sketches simply because the vicar and his wife would be offended by them?  No.
 
ShetlandPeat commented that anything with the BNP on it should be withdrawn from sale.  I detest the BNP.  Whether we like it or not, they are a political party.  Look at the time when Sinn Fein were censored on the news - did that do anyone any good?
 
Everyone is entitled to be offended by whatever offends them ... but it's very rocky ground IMHO when it is dictated that everyone must be offended by the same things.

are you not also falling into the trap of associating a toywith racist thinking. my sister had a black doll 40 odd years ago was she racist nope was the person that gave it to her. nope same with the golliwog doll its origins are unpleasant however is just a doll it causes no harm.
 
lets wiki it
 
 
now i would not have bought one as i do feel that they are dated but thats the only problem. 

paulb, it would take God to sort the underage drinking problem in Shetland out. It's a long term issue and if parents don't boot ass when their 14-15 year old kid is out I don't see what a police officer ticking them off will do.
 
I do agree though it is a problem and in roads need to be made into sorting it.

are you not also falling into the trap of associating a toywith racist thinking. my sister had a black doll 40 odd years ago was she racist nope was the person that gave it to her. nope same with the golliwog doll its origins are unpleasant however is just a doll it causes no harm.
 
lets wiki it
 
 
now i would not have bought one as i do feel that they are dated but thats the only problem. 

these maybe offended
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=blue+men&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=A8BE33D98B544B96DF24E968A14C3AE0DD15F2CA&selectedIndex=2
 
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=yellow+men&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=23D59533E62D70B2B779E088DBC361D60982D537&selectedIndex=33
 
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=red+men&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=0C1D0F429C5141EE37071972DDBB1362AD7E647A&selectedIndex=14
 
the red may be an issue with the pro ginger groups

You don't expect me to answer that, do you? 

we should ban all dressing up as vikings and dolls and toys. just think how many innocent monks they must worry. then those dalek toys they want to exterminate us. that must be racist