SNOW DAY

Snow and Budgets

Edinburgh is a lovely city, and it becomes even more lovely in the snow, although you do tend to find that it doesn't lie as readily which is not great.  I have been mostly shut in doors today as the TV kept saying only make necessary journeys and I didn't think nipping down to Ocean Terminal to do a bit of impulse shopping was essential.  So instead I spent the day catching up on the days events through the Internet and the TV.  I am hearing from the Scottish News Reports that the budget decision may be 'fast tracked' through the Scottish Parliament this week.  

The word 'Fast Track' makes me wonder through if you are moving at that pace is it not in the hope that those voting for it won't actually notice the hidden cuts and charges contained in it?

I get a little suspicious when people start suggesting this don't you?  

It has been so good catching up with some relaxation, when I tell people I work in a call centre they assume that the conversation is all about Celebrity Big Brother and Survivors (or whatever the latest 'reality' TV show is), in all honesty we talk about Israel, we talk about Politics and we talk about the issues facing us, and most of the people I have spoken to are getting more than a little fed up with Salmond's threats to resign when he doesn't get his own way, talk about throwing your toys out the pram!  

I wish that they would take these things seriously instead of giving it the petted lip every time things don't go their way.  And I think the reaction of the crowd to the SNP leader on Saturday at the new St Mirren Park was a clear indication of this, talk about being humiliated, and before anyone starts yeah you would expect some booing for any politician but not so much the chanting that came after it!  I felt a little embarrassed for Provost Lawson to be honest as she did not look happy and them with their big shiny banner at St Mirren Park too, just shows you politics and football does not mix.

On a separate issue I plan to release the full answer from the BBC to my complaint regarding the DEC appeal and their refusal to show it, I have asked that they get back to me if they do not wish this to go ahead with the reasons why, so watch this space it should be up (if they have no reason to wish to hide such a standard response) on Thursday.

Disaster Emergency Commitee Gaza Appeal

Homecoming 2009 A Waste?

Highland Games and Golf

OK so some people reading this might think well she is Labour (therefore anti Scottish) and we don't expect her to get on board, but I have spoken to friends who are of the nationalist persuasion and they agree, showing the Homecoming advert in Scotland (almost on loop round about Burns anniversary) is a complete waste of money and time.

I honestly could put my foot through the television when it comes on, Eddie Reader who has a fantastic voice (and sounds good in the advert cause the song is fab) but who seems to think that being Scottish means that you must love Burns poetry and appreciate it's beauty (sick of getting it forced down my throat) or two random rugby players (who no one I have spoken to knows), it took me while to work out who some of the others were too, but the biggest insult has to be Shir Sean and Lulu. Shir Sean who couldnt even be bothered to attempt to sing - come on do it with some gusto mate- and Lulu who has decided she has a Scottish accent after all, or at least she has it this week.

The whole campaign is an insult to normal Scottish people a lot of whom are struggling to cope in the current climate, the worlds biggest Highland games are we being serious? What about a massive rock concert twinned with the Celtic connections and leading onto a massive investment in town twinning and exchange trips for young Scottish students? What about an unprecedented investment in Scottish Schools and Scottish Home Care for the Edlerly show the world that the homecoming is not just about those overseas coming home but about social justice and caring for each other, guess that is too much to expect.

The SNP locally have slashed home care budgets, slashed the wardens service in the elderly homes and slashed the budgets for education closing educational establishments, they have let the Roads in Paisley go to the dogs and are singularly uninterested in the people of Renfrewshire, but then what more could we expect?

The BBC and Gaza

SKY and BBC Pro Israel?

I ask this question based on their almost inexplicable refusal to air the DEC (Disaster Emergency Committee) appeal for humanitarian aid in Gaza. I have read a few posts lately from supporters of the appeal and have been astounded by the level of attacks that they have been subjected to, and I fully expect to be attacked myself for this post.


One such blogger I have come across is http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/ written by a Palestinian doctor living in Egypt, it is an eye opener and one which is written from an eye witness of the tragedy so to speak, this blog is written from a perspective of human suffering and uses posts from those inside Gaza.


To address any imbalance I tried to put in a pro Israel blog here but I am finding it difficult to find one who has posted on the above blog who allows their profile to be seen.


The BBC and Sky have disgraced themselves by even suggesting that the UK public are not intelligent enough to know the difference between a news report (which should be balanced anyway) and an appeal by a charity for support for humanitarian aid. I find it difficult to swallow the excuses given by both the BBC and Sky and impartiality, both of these stations have been universally condemned for this action and rightly so, if you have not already done so please make a donation.


I would also urge people to write to the BBC and Sky regarding their decision.

Scottish Budget Crisis

Dishonorable SNP

The SNP budget has been voted down and immediately Alex Salmond decided that the best idea would be to try the same tactic as last year and threaten to resign if they did not get it through next time.

To be honest I am getting sick of his idle threats, the fact that he is willing to jeopardize the stability of the Scottish system by even hinting at this gives you a measure of how dishonorable the man is. Most if not all of the news reports that I have seen so far have called this a crisis for the SNP, the Greens are furious at the idea that the SNP would think that coming up to them minutes before the vote and saying yeah we change change it if you like after knowing for months exactly what the greens want would actually work.

This episode has shown the audacity and sheer arogance of the SNP and in particular Mr Salmond who must take the blame for this fiasco.

WALK FOR HOPE

CHOOSE LIFE

Saturday is an important day in the centre of Paisley, it is the annual Choose life walk for hope, and the event just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Unfortunately I will not be able to make the march this year due to previous arrangement but I would urge as many people as possible to get along to Paisley Town Hall for 2pm.


Choose life do extremely important work helping those thinking of suicide and now those who have been affected by suicide. You will note that Scotland's suicide rates have been in the news reports lately and too many people can't see a way out and unfortunately end up taking their own lives, projects like breathing space and choose life offer someone to talk to when it gets too much.


If you know someone who has been affected by suicide or someone who has committed suicide please take the time and go to the march. The people I have had the pleasure of speaking to on these occasions are family members of those who have taken their own lives and their strength and honesty was completely overwhelming, their acceptance of new people and willingness to explain their situation made the whole experience humbling. Please go along an support them and go for a cup of tea afterwards have a chat see what I mean.

Alex 'Thatcher' Salmond

On Yer Bike

On Margaret Thatcher and her policies Alex Salmond apparently thinks that Scotland and I quote "didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all." Of Course the problem we had with the Poll Tax wasn't the economics it had nothing to do with the fact that we were down and beaten by years of recession and unemployment with the decimation of our national industries, it was because well it just wasn't very nice!!

Does anyone else see the problem here? The fact that the First Minister of Scotland decided that in order to clarify his position had to call a radio call in show shows a level of desperation that no other leader of our country has ever even considered displaying, the scary thing is that the SNP will try and spin this as being in touch with 'the people'.

While talking to a few friends -a few of whom are SNP members- even they agreed that this made them look stupid, although on the back of the SNP locally awarding the directors of service a 16.7% pay rise and then having the bear faced cheek to write to the strikers that 2.5% was not enough, it kind of pales in comparison. I believe (and this is from sources actually present) the question put was if all of the workers and the directors are all in the same team will they be suggesting 16.7% for the ordinary worker?

I loved the fact that the SNP think that laughing in the face of Unison members when they ask the above is the done thing, it shows an incredible level of political naiveté from Cllr's Lawson, Mitchell and Adam who apparently think that the Unison members are beneath contempt.

Unlike the self proclaimed 'Tartan Tory' Salmond, I understand why Mrs Thatchers economics were bad for Scotland and I did mind them, as did the Coal miners, the small businesses and those of us affected by the Poll Tax. I wonder if Mr Salmond would consider this as a social or economic policy?

Watch his space for the next 'Salmondism' you know something like a 'Bushism' only not quite as politically articulate.

My Name

Raelene Boyle

Lots of people are named after their mother or father, or a loved one or friend I was lucky enough to be named after this woman (Photo above) an Olympic champion, so just in case you were interested here is a wee bit about Raelene Boyle

The woman above (Raelene Boyle) is an ex Australian sprinting champion and an Olympic silver medalist three times, she took part in a number of Olympics and is where my parents got my name, as they were watching when she was competing in the 1976 Montreal games. The number of people I have met that have said 'Rayleen that is an unusual name' is massive, even in University where I was surrounded by students from across the globe I always got the same thing.



My understanding is that the name Rayleen is not as unusual as you might think, well at least not in Australia and there is even a facebook group for the Rayleen's of the world to share stories of how we got our names etc and the spellings!


Raelene Boyle was the first woman to carry their Countries flag in the Olympic opening ceremony in 1976 and although she did not win any medals that year - from what I can tell this was mainly down to being disqualified for two false starts, which were later shown not to be false starts - she was widely recognised as one of the outstanding talents of her generation. Raelene Boyle has suffered from breast cancer and help set up a charity called 'Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation' which raises money for cancer awareness, you can donate to the charity or learn more about it by clicking on the name above.



I like that I am named after someone different, I suppose it is a little like being named after the Jamaican athlete Usian Bolt who yesterday smashed the Olympic record for the mens 100 meter, those children would have their own story to tell. Having an unusual name is great, people rarely forget your name and in itself it is a bit of an icebreaker which is great with me being the shy retiring type!

So if you are pregnant and sitting in front of the TV forget about calling your child Leona after the singer think about calling them after someone more unusual and interesting give them a story behind the name.

Social Work

What Went Wrong?

Sitting in work on one of my breaks during the week I noticed one of these trashy women's magazines that I almost never read (unless I am in the doctors surgery waiting room) in it I noticed an interesting article on the Social Worker involved in the Victoria Climbie case. She was cleared of being at fault in the case by a tribunal and I thought that it was interesting they showed her side of the story and her grief and anger over the whole tragedy. But at the time, the tragedy reminded me of something that struck me from a fairly early stage in my professional life, there are some sections of public sector workers who only ever get into the press if something goes wrong.


I don't think I have ever seen an article in the main stream press congratulating a social worker for helping a child with behavioural difficulties stick in at school and get their Higher results, or the teacher who gives up their spare time to take kids to the theatre because it will help explain what Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Nights Dream is actually all about, and most of us know one or both of those I have just described. Think about the relatively low paid social care worker in a children's unit helping give young people a sense of home and security as well as the emotional and intellectual support to continue in school and achieve academically.


I don't think enough emphasis is placed on public sector workers as a whole but, Social Workers definitely seem to get the rough end of the stick, it is their fault when a child like Victoria Climbie gets killed, it is their fault when a parole violator breaks the conditions of their parole and commits a crime and it is their fault when the unruly teenager decides to break the windows on their next door neighbours car because he wouldn't give them their ball back!


Society fails to acknowledge and accept that we can never fully mitigate such risks, and I know that is not a popular view I wish we could stop every tragedy like this happening but the simple truth is we can't. We could have the most robust system EVER in place and tragedies like this would still take place.


Social workers will never be able to stop every tragedy like Victoria Climbie but they can minimize them when the system works, that is why we have child protection committees in every council with all appropriate agencies represented. I have been to a few of these meetings as a Councillor and it is never easy but everyone present has one thing in mind what is best for the child. I loved the title of one of the reports to come out of the Scottish Executive when I was a Councillor .... 'It's Everyone's Job to Make sure I'm Alright' because it is.


For my part I wanted to say thank you to all of the Social workers who have helped shape my life. From my Aunts, one a retired social worker and one still serving, to the people I worked with while a sessional worker with Social Work and all of those I worked with while the Deputy Convenor on the Council. All of you made a profound impact on my view of what Social Work can do when it works, and the difference it can make not just to a child's life but, to the thousands of vulnerable clients throughout Scotland who rely on you for help.

Goodbye To A Friend

David Ramsay

As many readers of this blog might know before I was so heavily involved in Politics I was a long time member of Paisley Youth Theatre and as a member I met a lot of lovely people and made a number of close friends who are still friends to this day. Unfortunately recently we lost one of those friends and that loss is keenly felt by all who knew him.

David Ramsay until fairly recently was the Musical Director of PACE Theatre company and it was in this capacity that I came to know him and become his friend. I think myself lucky that I met David -although the first time I met him he had a parrot on his shoulder (long story don't ask)- he always had time for me and believed in me and my ability as a singer. David and his wife Pauline were probably more PACE for me than anything else, that is not to disparage the other excellent members of staff that PACE have, but I spent a lot of time hiding behind my big sister trying to be the third spear carrier from the left, and David or DR as we affectionately called him would not allow this and although he did not push you to the front he fostered your talent and helped you believe in yourself.

I will miss DR because he was and is my friend, I cannot begin to describe what he meant to me and I am not going to try, instead I am going to leave a memory in the hope that all of you reading this who knew him will similarly leave a comment with a funny/nice memory of your own. We have had to say goodbye to DR but we do not and will not forget him, to so many us he will never be forgotten he sneaked in and made a DR shape in your life so unassuming and quiet but always there if you needed him. David leaves behind his wife Pauline and two young sons as well as his mother and brother and extended family all of whom will miss him.

Recording the song for 'Cuts Both Ways' in the PACE office downstairs, we had been rehearsing for about five minutes when the workmen outside the office window started with the pneumatic drill and they continued for about half an hour in between bursts we tried to lay down the track and we would get almost all the way through and the drill would start again, after about an hour and a half of this DR says wait here a minute. Five minutes later he comes back in the room and says right we have ten minutes lets go! DR had went outside and convinced the workmen to stop for ten minutes so that we could record the track. And I must admit to being suitably impressed with the results, it's true what they say you can do wonders in post production.

Graduate Endownments

SNP and Education

I read today in the Herald Newspaper that the SNP has made a bit of a blunder with the Graduate Endowment and it's abolition, my reading of this is that 3000 students who had deferred payment due to continuing studies have been sent bills for £2000. Now the debate from the SNP camp (in the comments section) seems to be that either the Labour party fabricated this story, this is not supported by the statement from the Scottish Government spokesperson or that the officials were Labour supporters and so did this on purpose, again not supported by the SNP Scottish Government Statement.

Looking at the statement they have released it seems to be saying well that is just tough they can take out a student loan, but if we look back further we hear the SNP Education Secretary say...

"It is a wrong that they begin their working life encumbered by financial pressures and it is a wrong this new Scottish government intends to put right."

A feeling she should possibly have shared with her colleagues! Or even better they should have better researched what this policy would mean and have told students the truth at the time instead of delivery 3000 bills for £2000 a piece.

This is also covered on the bbc news website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7419980.stm

Bessie and Molly the Return

The Return of the Wonder dogs

OK took this one while out and about in the Fountain Gardens last Saturday with the dogs, the gardens are gorgeous at this time of year with the tress losing their blossoms and the paths redone all that is missing is the fountain, but it seems that the well of opportunity that existed under the Labour administration for upgrading the parks in Renfrewshire has run dry, much like this amazing fountain under the administration of the SNP and Liberal Democrats.

Frosty the Snowman

LEON REDBONE

With it being Christmas and all I thought that this would be a fantastic time to post this video, I found it on You Tube last night and thought it was amazing hope you enjoy it and best wishes to you all for the festive season....

Wee Nicky slips up AGAIN

Deputy First Minister Wee Nicky has got to learn that just cause she says it doesn't make it so! Her latest is that entry into the EU for an independent Scotland would be automatic, this by no means assured, in fact, the majority of the legal opinion is that this is NOT the case. The automatic membership of the EU would not be for Scotland but for the remainder of the United Kingdom.



Her assertion that the EU would want Scotland because it is Oil rich backs up the argument that Scotland would not gain automatic entry into the EU, why? Because, why would it matter whether they would want Scotland or not if an independent Scotland had automatic entry? Her own words prove that even she does not believe her parties rhetoric. The fact that she 'Can't' reveal her legal source is more than a little suspicious and the fact that she refuses to confirm whether the Scottish Government's own legal department agrees pretty much says they don't or she and the SNP would be shouting it from the rooftops.



Now do not get me wrong my understanding of this topic is limited (as it seems is wee Nicky's) but, having limited study of the articles of association in University I have to say wee Nicky's statements are dubious to say the least. Personally I don't think it will be an issue given that I do not think that Scotland will vote to become independent, but, even if it was, I for one would like to see a little more meat on the bones of the SNP's policy here, for instance how many seats do the SNP think they will get at the 'Top Table'? Do they believe that an independent Scotland would have the same power of veto as the rest of the UK? What would they do on the new EU Constitution?


I will leave it at that for now, but it is certainly something to think about.