bresail

Congratulations Sandy! May you wear it with the pride that it deserves. Not many dead and maimed soldiers are so recognised. Regards, Rex.

"However there is no need at any time to "address this person and tell him that you dislike him and why", as that would be both unprofessional and render any sort of rational debate meaningless." The question I posed ref addressing this person was to point out that it was not normal to do this, on the grounds that it may not be prudent, he could be bigger than you. Also to point out that if you cannot let your dislike of the person slide, then you should not be in the discussion. regards, Rex.

It is possible with a little thought to discuss a case and state your point without showing your dislike for a person. Try this test before posting hate mail. You are in a room with other people. The person you dislike is in the group and you are discussing a case involving this person. Will you address this person and tell him that you dislike him and why, thus, getting that problem out of the way? You can now discuss the case in hand, freely. Or would you quietly sit in a corner or change your name tag, before speaking? I have absolutely no doubt that some of the posts are in the hope of doing damage to other persons and ignoring facts. A cleaned up version of a Spanish saying is, "A male without testes or a woman with, are not to be feared!" Ah, the Hispanics. Regards. Rex.

"Para Handy is a most profound contributor (see above)." What a profound and well thought out statement! Just what we need from our playground. Auld Rasmie, "I'm sick of Shetland, and absolutely sick of Shetlink." It is a good thing that you don't live here then. "This thread needs to be locked again. In fact, padlocked, shuttered, and boarded up. It's a waste of bytes." So is contributing to a forum that you hate in a place which you hate. Regards, Rex.

The truth is almost fully out! GS is right, we must now move on and make changes. We could start by using our legal department to enable these changes and to stop being used as a department that looks for legal outs and dodgy excuses. The attempted gagging and bullying of our councillors, should be stopped. Our councillors should also develop more cojones, even the females. Figuratively of course! Our ungallant Convener has gone on a, "Soma Holiday after watching a, "Feely." The Feely was a film where he was able to feel the happiness and trappings of power and success, that he never had and did not deserve. * * referenced from, "Brave New World." Huxley. Regards, Rex.

I am miles out of the age bracket, going on for 50yrs over. If you youngsters don't use your voices then things will never change for you. Don't just sit back and say nothing is ever done! Make things happen, force councillors to listen. On another thread on this forum, people complain about youngsters meeting in the town, I, personally, find these complaints stupid. So if you have a suggestion then go to the site above and take part. Then if the council don't listen, change your meeting venue from Commercial Street to outside the council offices. Stay legal though. Regards, Rex. Will I be deleted?

Once again the teenagers are in trouble. Thank goodness we were never in our teens and in any case we were too pure to have been nuisances. Ok, ok, let's use the old cliche. Things were different in my day! No they weren't! Teenagers are genetically programmed to be pains in the ass. That has got the nature out of the way so on to the nurture. How many parents do you know that are good parents or reverse it, how many that are bad parents? If, by example, they do not learn basic social skills at home what chance do they have? So we want the police to reform them for us because we are inadequate parents. What are we going to reform them to and from? In my day, a football accidently on the head would have been a mild shock. It could have been a razor, a bottle or a cosh. Damned teddy boys! I have joked with some of the teenagers that go on the street and have never had any problems, in fact I headed a ball back once. It reminds me of my youth and how we used to meet. Regards, Rex.

"Granted I don't have the experience of many on here in the alleged 'real world', but the time for that argument to be used against me is quickly running out, if I'm to understand the qualifications for entering the real world. So keep using it while you can! It'll still mean nothing." JAS, be very careful about the so called, "real world." The real world in this instance means conforming and resigning yourself to set patterns that are acceptable to a majority. These patterns are set up out of envy. Do not dare to be an individual or you will be classed as strange and people will think that something is wrong with you. This real world is full of people that have lost hope, have no dreams and worry about what other people think of them. You can however, live outside this real world. Go out and make your own mistakes. Hope to make at least one mistake a day. Fall in love regularly until you finally do. Read some Vonnegut, Hesse, Bukowsky and Dylan Thomas. These are old works but still valid. Be Kind BY Charles Bukowski We are always asked to understand the other person's viewpoint no matter how out-dated foolish or obnoxious. one is asked to view their total error their life-waste with kindliness, especially if they are aged. but age is the total of our doing. they have aged badly because they have lived out of focus, they have refused to see. not their fault? whose fault? mine? I am asked to hide my viewpoint from them for fear of their fear. age is no crime but the shame of a deliberately wasted life among so many deliberately wasted lives is. -------------------------------- Regards, Rex

Spinner and Ghostrider, well said. "This would be an excellent time to reform the role of convener, if that is permitted within local govt rules?" Does there actually need to be a "leader" in this sense? Could there not just be a chairman with no more "clout" than a regular councillor? I think that finding a neutral person to chair a meeting may be difficult due to our insularity. I use the term neutral to indicate a person who can put aside his own interests and work towards the betterment of Shetland and all of it's residents. In short a person with a democratic outlook as all our councillors should be. I am however a little worried about this suggestion. "That could leave the Chief Executive as the best placed official to be ensuring the council follows regulations and procedures as required." I hope that by this time we would have sensible procedures in place to find a good, dynamic and trustworthy person as CE. Regards, Rex.

"When will all this end? It's a common refrain in Zimbabwe. "Only when the old man goes," said Tinaye Garande, a street vendor." www.independent.co.uk Sound advice from Africa, when a group was asked how to sort out the SIC. What a shock to learn that they were interested in our affairs! Regards, Rex.

"You'll have no problem letting us know your bank account details and how often you have sex, then." Unfortunately both bank and sex details are at zero. I am however, applying for a top job on the council and if I get the post both finances and sex life could improve dramatically. I'll keep you in the loop. Regards, Rex.

"Would you say the same if it was personal details relating to yourself or your family?" Yes, I would say the same and would not cry out if if something was found that was derogatory to me, as long as it was true. If untrue I would defend myself vigorously and lawfully. My life is an open book and if anyone wants to know more about me, all they have to do is ask me and I will answer truthfully. How can anyone trust a councillor that does not have the integrity to let us know what is wrong with our elected and employed members of the SIC? Should they be forced to keep quiet until the problems that we obviously have, escalate. This is how a dictatorship functions! I do however agree with Spinner that we should have waited until the full report was published. Regards, Rex.

"Without the leaks were would not know stuff we deserve to know and it should not be kept in reports that are ment for the eyes of a small cabal, who want to cover things up." Well put Styles and so true! Yet we still have people here who wish to clobber the councillors who they suspect of the leaks. Whoever is leaking the info are doing us a service this is not true of some of the other councillors. What is the problem with having a truthful and open council? We have a right to know what the people that we employ to run our council are doing with our monies and what they intend to do for Shetland. "Zola's true crime has been in daring to rise to defend the truth and civil liberty ... [and] for that courageous defense of the primordial rights of the citizen, he will be honored wherever men have souls that are free ..."[/i] London Times. Alons citoyenne shetlandaise. Regards, Rex.

"Although I can't be certain, it is likely the source of the leak will have been a person that has been given the draft report to comment on prior to publication. Audit Scotland would not gain by leaking the report." So speculation, is pointless and the leaker of this report must be known! Elementary my dear jz. Regards, Rex owner of Jock.

“This use of the media to further particular viewpoints is not unique to the Shetland Islands, but its extent has had a negative impact on the council’s ability to conduct business effectively, on the reputation of the council and on working relationships,†"I wonder who audit Scotland could be referring to?" It seems that there has been a leak from Audit Scotland who made the statement above, about a leak from the Shetland Council. How ridiculous! An aspersive comment has already been made, also above, pointing at Jonathan Wills. This is without having access to the full report. In another post on this forum someone asked why people hide behind pseudonyms. It is because they are scared and do not have the courage of their convictions and that one day they may need the help of the person that they can, "safely," abuse. This is not aimed at all the pseudonyms here, just the abusive ones that feel that they need to hide. Jock, my dog is the one that has an owner called Rex, he has nothing to hide. So he has outed me. [/b]

"I just dunno how many folk are going to be content waiting two years for it to happen." We only have to wait until the report is published and then, if the leaked report is true, we can do something about it. Regards, Rex.

"I had a dog once. It was called Rex. It had a very bad attitude and got kicked periodically." Did you make sure that it was securely tied before kicking it? There is a correlation between people who ill treat animals, they often do the same to their kids. "Nobody has a dog called Rex." I know a dog that has an owner called Rex. (Written with permission from the dog and owner.) Regards.

"I know of one or two characters that have muckle dogs that are alcholics." Alcoholic dogs react pretty much the same as humans, they put their paw around you and say, "You're my best friend." They then lick your face. Regards.

I too would like to thank our ambulance service, who had to take me into hospital a couple of weeks ago. It was a false alarm. I'm at an age where false alarms are a problem but they reassured me that my neighour had done the right thing. Other neighbours had however blocked the ambulance access, which is clearly marked and signposted. This illegal parking caused the ambulance to bottom on the curb, so it could not move closer to the pathway. The ambulance service took it all in their stride. Thanks again. Regards.

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk.....0Smith.htm A prime example of the victim shift, complaining about persons who were highlighting faults in the SIC's decisions. Gary Robinson and Cecil Smith are the perfect people to be on a commitee to find a new chief executive. Could they be any worse than the last two commitees? Ms Miller and others, involved in the Judane and the ex chief executive affair, constantly remind us that they are afraid of honesty. Why? Maybe they have another puppet lined up! At least they have shown that we all have a voice. Should we not all write to the council and object to councillors and the conveners that have proven themselves useless? Regards.

fleabee, Well done, direct, to the point and good sense. Maybe we should make a printable notice for all the folks with no communication possibilities but, only for the security checks. This would be a single sentence. CHECK WITH AIRPORT SECURITY BEFORE TRAVELLING. Regards.

"It's this that folk are questioning, no? Not whether security checks are necessary or not." Apparently not. There has been a suggestion that there should be exceptions. On some or maybe all, there is an exception and that is a secret armed person. Maybe people with babies should be exempt but how long would it be before a parent and child are going to opt to go to heaven together? I actually know a person , an ex-friend who hid drugs in the nappy that the baby was wearing, there are other folk in Shetland, who know of this case, she was a singer in the country that caught her. Terrorists are ready now to blow themselves and hundreds of other people up. Of course we are all nice and friendly people here so it couldn't happen to us. Hasn't it yet occurred to some people that airbourne explosions have lessened since the security measures have improved? Why not try to understand why certain security guards are crabby and if you have a complaint do it officially, after you have complied. Regards.

"I think that this over dramatisation is a far cry from what a few people on here are trying to say regarding their experiences at being searched at the hands of Sumburgh security staff. " No doubt some of the passengers on the above flight complained about the security checks prior to boarding the 'plane. No doubt the friends and families are now complaing that not enough was done. So did I over dramatise the above post? No I did not. It was hard hitting I agree but, the end of this flight was harder hitting. The minor gripes are ridiculous. I also thank all security staff for inconveniencing me. I also understand that at times they can be curt and rude, when folks object to them helping to keep the passengers safe. Regards.

I thought that the Shetland woodlands were utilised for firewood years ago. Maybe the ancient folk were heavy smokers and careless. I smoke rollies without filters but, I always put the ends in my pocket. After dicarding the embers of course. Regards.

I bought a 70 litre bag of compost last week, ok, since then the weather has been grim. The bag is in my garden and it shines at me when I go outside and it gives me hope for the year to come. Simple things eh. Regards.