Kavi Ugl

Get out. The EU have either destroyed/done nothing to help save the industries we had when we went in, and have brought us nothing to replce them with we argubly couldn't have achieved just fine without them.
 
Yeah, there may be rougher blips as we go through the transition of leaving, but once the dust settles we'll be in no worse a place than we re right now, and should be in a much better one. Its no different than the rougher blips we went through going in, nothing got any better than it was before we went in, things just got done that bit differently, that's all, and now being in is dragging us down.
 
The EEC/EU was aphilosophy that was worthy of examination, and we've gone as far as try it out for over 40 years. Its never really done what it said on the tin, and by all apperances things can only worsen, not better, so quit throwing good money after bad and try something else.
 
The original conception of the EEC maybe worked okayishly, and maybe it could have continued to work okayishly if it had stayed that way, but what it is now is heading for an implosion. Common sense and a quick glance at a world map soon lets you know large land masses under common control only work tolerably in practice when their greatest extent is east/west, not north/south. eg. The Yanks, Canada, Russia etc. The EU stretches from the Arctic Circle to the Med, and trying to apply the same set of rules to the Swedes, Greeks and Germans, or the Spanish, us and the Finns etc, given the vast differences between those nations, is never going to work. A small group of nations in similar latitudes probably could have worked, say, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and maybe us an Ireland etc, but with what they have it can't, and all thats been happening these last twenty years is that they've been trying to stop what they have from falling apart, and now is the time to quit even that as its failed too in the end.
 
Once a whole starts becoming unstable, the usual form is that the periphieries detach first as they have the weakest connection to the core. Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Finland are peripheries due to their locations at the northern and southern ends, us and Ireland are peripheries due to being island nations. Greece has all but committed suicide by opting to stay in, Spain isn't exctly doing sh*t hot with staying either, things aren't exactly a bed of roses in Merkel's "Motherland" or some of her buffer satellite nations, the writing is on the wall, time we were gone while we're still able to exit on our terms and survive, so as not end up in the same hole as Greece.

Our foreign trade seems to have centred around the Norwegians, Danes, Russians and to a lesser degree the Poles now for quite some time, so for the current and future good of Shetland's economy thinking about teaching some/all of those if we're going beyond just English would be a wiser choice to start off with.
 
That said, if folk hve the wit to ensure the Nats don't get back in in May, this whole Gaelic broo ha ha will almost inevitably be quietly and quickly swept under the carpet. Its blatantly obvious its just a Nat sweetener to try and keep the west coast and their isles onside. Remember, they didn't exactly give a resounding backing to the "Yes" vote down there.
 
That said, I suspect unless some phoenix rapidly rises from the ashes, we will probably be stuck with them for another term (pity help us). Not because they're any good, but because any potential opposition has managed to implode and perform electoral suicide.

Apparantly it's being discussed at the LCC on Monday.
 
I emailed my councillor(not something I do often, like once in 10 years) saying the proposals for The Esplanade were madness and the money would be better spent repairing Commercial Road.
 
Unfortunately, I recieved a very "not really interested" reply.
 
If these proposals go ahead folk will just avoid the area and the traffic will end up congesting other roads/areas.
 
Da Street is struggling as it is but they seem bent on doing everything in their power to kill it off completely.
 
They don't seem to grasp/understand that most working folk don't have the time to park half a mile away simply to post a letter or pop into the bank.

Apparantly it's being discussed at the LCC on Monday.
 
I emailed my councillor(not something I do often, like once in 10 years) saying the proposals for The Esplanade were madness and the money would be better spent repairing Commercial Road.
 
Unfortunately, I recieved a very "not really interested" reply.
 
If these proposals go ahead folk will just avoid the area and the traffic will end up congesting other roads/areas.
 
Da Street is struggling as it is but they seem bent on doing everything in their power to kill it off completely.
 
They don't seem to grasp/understand that most working folk don't have the time to park half a mile away simply to post a letter or pop into the bank.

Apparantly it's being discussed at the LCC on Monday.
 
I emailed my councillor(not something I do often, like once in 10 years) saying the proposals for The Esplanade were madness and the money would be better spent repairing Commercial Road.
 
Unfortunately, I recieved a very "not really interested" reply.
 
If these proposals go ahead folk will just avoid the area and the traffic will end up congesting other roads/areas.
 
Da Street is struggling as it is but they seem bent on doing everything in their power to kill it off completely.
 
They don't seem to grasp/understand that most working folk don't have the time to park half a mile away simply to post a letter or pop into the bank.

Apparantly it's being discussed at the LCC on Monday.
 
I emailed my councillor(not something I do often, like once in 10 years) saying the proposals for The Esplanade were madness and the money would be better spent repairing Commercial Road.
 
Unfortunately, I recieved a very "not really interested" reply.
 
If these proposals go ahead folk will just avoid the area and the traffic will end up congesting other roads/areas.
 
Da Street is struggling as it is but they seem bent on doing everything in their power to kill it off completely.
 
They don't seem to grasp/understand that most working folk don't have the time to park half a mile away simply to post a letter or pop into the bank.

Being 25 I think myself lucky that, being fae Whalsa, I retain a good amount of one of the dialects that make Shetland unique. I am always disappointed to hear Shetlanders the same age and younger than me speaking a much more diluted dialect. Then I speak to older Isles folk and realise that while I understand everything they say there are many words they use which have fallen out of favour with younger folk like myself. Dialect gets diluted every generation that much is clear. 
 
However if I were offered a choice between encouraging the reinforcement and retention of Shetlands existing unique dialects and promoting an obscure Scottish language which few here speak or have interest in speaking then it is a no brainer for me. Perhaps this could reverse the decline of Shetlands various tongues.
 
More nonsense from Holyrood. As has been said if anyone wants to learn Gaelic then good luck to them but not a penny of Shetlands already underfunded education budget should go towards it. 

Maybe any spare cash would be better spent on "promoting" the Shetland indigenous language first, before we worry (and spend) on someone else's. *If* it hadn't been literally battered out of generations of Shetlanders and the "Queen's English" battered in, by Scots as much as anyone else, it might well be in a far more healthy condition today. The "eduction system" owes us that much, even if they owe the Hebrideans the same.

Based on your poor spelling and grammer I think perhaps you need to master English first.
 
The Gaelic issue in Shetland shouldn't be about having to divert much strained funds for it, it should be rejected out of hand because it has absolutely no place here.

Based on your poor spelling and grammer I think perhaps you need to master English first.
 
The Gaelic issue in Shetland shouldn't be about having to divert much strained funds for it, it should be rejected out of hand because it has absolutely no place here.

So you're advocating teaching an obscure minority language to an Island population that has virtually no historical or cultural Gaelic links? 
 

Fair point, I just dunna like seeing wir Faroese neighbours made a "scape goat" for the failings of Brussels/London/Edinburgh 
 
I did notice last year that the Faroese boats were still fishing(around Shetland) weeks after the Shetland fleet was finished and tied up.  
 
But, that's the consequences of having wir fisheries controlled by the EU and having to share wir seas with umpteen other nations.
 
Just imagine if it was a fleet of 20+ Shetland pelagic boats all landing into Shetland.....
 
I joined(and payed into) Wir Shetland today.  As someobody said last week, we have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

Hmm, I don't think the wording in the Poll is the best.  I would personally re-word it to something like "Is the new roundabout at Lochside badly designed and in the wrong place? .
 
The answer is a definate Yes. 
 
Now that it's fully open I have never seen such a poorly designed roundabout.
 
I honestly don't really know where to begin.
 
The lanes/approach lanes are too narrow and awful, the field of vision is so poor and so cluttered to the point where you can't see where you're going or exiting, the camber on the west side disorientates you and the wasted space is unbelievable.
 
As has been mentioned elsewhere, it's an accident waiting to happen.
 
Frankly, tear it up and start again.

Fair point, I just dunna like seeing wir Faroese neighbours made a "scape goat" for the failings of Brussels/London/Edinburgh 
 
I did notice last year that the Faroese boats were still fishing(around Shetland) weeks after the Shetland fleet was finished and tied up.  
 
But, that's the consequences of having wir fisheries controlled by the EU and having to share wir seas with umpteen other nations.
 
Just imagine if it was a fleet of 20+ Shetland pelagic boats all landing into Shetland.....
 
I joined(and payed into) Wir Shetland today.  As someobody said last week, we have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

Fair point, I just dunna like seeing wir Faroese neighbours made a "scape goat" for the failings of Brussels/London/Edinburgh 
 
I did notice last year that the Faroese boats were still fishing(around Shetland) weeks after the Shetland fleet was finished and tied up.  
 
But, that's the consequences of having wir fisheries controlled by the EU and having to share wir seas with umpteen other nations.
 
Just imagine if it was a fleet of 20+ Shetland pelagic boats all landing into Shetland.....
 
I joined(and payed into) Wir Shetland today.  As someobody said last week, we have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

The Faroese are in(I concede) UK/EU waters for the same reason as the Norwegians, Swedish, Danish, Irish and Scottish vessels are here - to catch the migrating mackrel.
 
Or to put it bluntly, the quota the EU awarded them in EU waters.  I know the deal stinks, but that's the EU's fault, not Faroe's.
 
Just because a Faroese boat is inside the 12 mile limit doesn't necessarily mean they're actually fishing.
 
If he nets a catch on the outer edge of the 12 mile limit but straddles the line while hauling is that illegal?.
 
The Tróndur í Gøtu was obviously getting his tanks dipped by the Hirta in St Magnus Bay last night but no, no, the "Jungle Drums" cried that he was fishing.
 
What I hate is the hypocrasy and hysteria from some quarters in Shetland.
 
I don't see anybody howling about the flags of convenience boats that fish around Shetland all year round.  Last night I counted no less than 8 of these fishing boats and crabbers in "Shetland's Waters".
 
And they're still there tonight.
 
Haltenbank, Tahume, Cabo Ortegal, Edward Henry, Atlantic Challenge, Farnella, Cap Saint Georges, Ph2200 Wirron 6.
 
And I see a mega trawler called "SCH24 Afrika" east of Caithness tonight.  The flaming thing is longer than the North Boats!.
 
I'm not going to defend a Faroese fishing vessel that breaks the law and fishes inside the 12 mile limit and I'm not here to defend Marine Scotland either but if there are concerns then the proper route would be to make official representation to the Faroese Authorities, not hysterical headlines on the Shetland News, Shetland Times or Radio Shetland.

Fair point, I just dunna like seeing wir Faroese neighbours made a "scape goat" for the failings of Brussels/London/Edinburgh 
 
I did notice last year that the Faroese boats were still fishing(around Shetland) weeks after the Shetland fleet was finished and tied up.  
 
But, that's the consequences of having wir fisheries controlled by the EU and having to share wir seas with umpteen other nations.
 
Just imagine if it was a fleet of 20+ Shetland pelagic boats all landing into Shetland.....
 
I joined(and payed into) Wir Shetland today.  As someobody said last week, we have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

And so the pleepsing starts again......
 
http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/11648-fury-at-faroe-fishing-inside-shetland-limit
 
But it seems some folk have short memories.......
 
http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2012/02/24/thirteen-shetland-fishermen-fined-470000-for-cynical-and-sophisticated-black-fish-scheme
 
Pot, kettle and black?.

Totally agree.
 
The days of sticking our heads in the sand and thinking it "doesn't affect me" are over.
 
It's time to wake up.

fionajohn this is no ploy by Westminster I assure you. This is a grass-roots political movement started by the people of Shetland for the people of Shetland. The only way we will be "conquered" is if we allow things to continue the way they are instead of standing up for ourselves. 

Yes, it would be interesting to hear what our neighbours' thoughts on this would be. I get the feeling there is a lot more SNP support in Orkney, as compared to here.
I totally agree a united campaign from both archipelagos would add recognition to the argument. Think about it - Shetland doesn't even appear on a lot of TV weather maps, Orkney does. I worked in London from 1986-89, no-one knew or cared to know where or what Shetland was - including a few central belt Scots. Although this may have changed a little, what with moonwalking ponies, Ann Cleeves dramatisations etc etc

Yes, I have mixed feelings about this.
 
The man/woman in the black pick-up wasn't doing themselves any favours but it looks like the silver car was being irresponsible too, even as is suggested was speeding up to prevent the black pick-up passing.
 
The silver car should have acknowledged the dangerous situation, done the right thing and slowed down enough for the black pick-up to pass.

I hear on Radio Shetland tonight that all bairns in Primary School will be "introduced" to two foreign languages by the time they leave PS.
 
Needless to say, two of them mentioned were Gaelic and French but the others were just as alien and pointless.
 
Another reason we need control of our own affairs and what's taught in WIR schools.

I wouldn't worry about "post oil" just now.
 
Don't be fooled by the lay-offs announced at Sullom Voe or the various "cost cuttings"(Scatsta).
 
There's more oil and gas around Shetland(especially west) as ever there was and don't forget the oil and gas fields that haven't even been discovered yet.
 
The future for an independant Shetland is glowing and despite what has been "stolen" from us so far, there's enough left to make our financial eyes water.
 
Infact, if we had full control of our oil and gas fields it could be run in a far more stable and consistant way, unlike the jerky, "boom and bust" oil companies.

I wouldn't worry about "post oil" just now.
 
Don't be fooled by the lay-offs announced at Sullom Voe or the various "cost cuttings"(Scatsta).
 
There's more oil and gas around Shetland(especially west) as ever there was and don't forget the oil and gas fields that haven't even been discovered yet.
 
The future for an independant Shetland is glowing and despite what has been "stolen" from us so far, there's enough left to make our financial eyes water.
 
Infact, if we had full control of our oil and gas fields it could be run in a far more stable and consistant way, unlike the jerky, "boom and bust" oil companies.