23 December 2006

I'll help find Elsi Arrub

I'M MICHEL Tordoir, the Belgian sailor who stayed for three winters in Mid Yell.

I always read the Shetland News when I have the opportunity and since yesterday I'm devastated by the news about Andrew from Elsi Arrub.

Of course he took the right decision, but I can't stand the idea of his boat drifting alone in the open ocean.

Could you please transfer to him or to his family all my wishes for him to recovery as soon as possible and also my offer to help him - if he needs it - to find back the boat?

I've got time for the moment, and if I can be from some help, if there is already a plan, if they need help (sailor help!) they can call me or write
to me, I will try to help.

I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Kind regards
Michel Tordoir
www.lamisericorde.free.fr
michel.tordoir@scarlet.be




18 December 2006

Auld bodies resting easy

18 December, 2006

NO SOONER than I wrote my last letter regarding services to the elderly, I find in this weeks Shetland News the SIC have reconsidered there price increases.

Must have been severe heartburn, sanity prevails once more, long may it continue. I see by certain articles published this week there will be a
whole new agenda of decisions to be made over the next few months. That will be interesting, especially as the public, who rightly so, are making their feelings known.

After all there are more of us and we know what we want. All praise to Cecil for this latest result, there will be quite a few auld bodies resting easier the night.

Carole Radford
carole.radford@tiscali.co.uk



18 December 2006

Is WWOOFing Maggie there?

We live in the remote Marlborough Sounds in the South Island of New Zealand and have just had the good fortune of having Emma Hooker, from the Shetlands to stay and help us out for a bit in the WWOOFing scheme (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms).

We talked with her about another young Shetland islander who stayed with us when we lived on D'urville Island in 1981 and thought she might know her!! Of course it turns out Maggie Leask is not an uncommon name in the Shetlands!

Anyway the purpose of this email is to try and find Maggie who would have been perhaps 19 or 20 when she stayed with us 25 years ago. If it is
possible to trace her, please would you ask her to make contact again at jude@farmside.co.nz with Jude and Roger Sonneland.

We would love to hear from her.

Thanks and have a peaceful and happy Christmas

Jude Sonneland
Ngaio Bay B&B,
and
Garden Art Images
French Pass RD 3
Marlborough Sounds 7193
03 5765287
jude@farmside.co.nz




15 December 2006

Thank goodness for Cecil

THANK goodness the elderly have a champion in Cecil Eunson, with the amount of ridiculous ideas the SIC have had this year, this one takes the biscuit!

How can they possibly sit around a table and make a decision to increase the cost of a dinner for someone who may be unable to shop for a meal, let alone cook it, beats me. At that price they may as well phone for a takeaway - 81.8 per cent, has their pension increased by this amount?

If anything, I reckon it should be free. Most people have pride and are prepared to pay a nominal amount, but in this caring, sharing environment,
where's the gesture?

On the 25th when they're all indulging on turkey, perhaps they'll give a thought to all these souls who've probably given their working lives to the
community. They shouldn't have the added stress, not now there's a whole raft of other cost increases to deal with.

Have some compassion. You might be on the receiving end yourself some day.

Carole Radford
carole.radford@tiscali.co.uk



14 December 2006

No cinema at North Ness

SPEAKING about the proposed cinema and music venue, I'm not totally against seeing this project progress but have no desire to see it be built at North Ness.

The North Ness is starting to look overcrowded as it is and to propose more large public buildings in this area of Lerwick may decrease interest for say visitors and locals to walk or see other more prominent parts of Lerwick.

The new museum will be open next year and this should remain the only public attraction in this area of town.

People such as myself still remember that after the Buncefield disaster the SIC had argued the case that the oil depot at North Ness should be
pressurised to move out of town.

I firmly believe and have said to a few local community councillors that the depot should be a major obstacle when even considering more public buildings at the North Ness.

Until the issue of seeing the depot relocated out of town is discussed again and enforced I would like to see the cinema venue and also the proposed new library be built elsewhere in Lerwick.

Local councillor Gussie Angus a few months back said in the Shetland Times that he would welcome a new library to be built down where the old Shetland Archives offices were.

This site, I believe, once cleared of all unused buildings would be the best location for a library as it will still be central and within walking
distance of local amenities such as shops, youth hostel and also handy for parking.

Old listed buildings around Lerwick are mainly occupied and although St Clements Hall is lying empty and in need of refurbishment it could still
fill a useful purpose once a good idea is found.

I personally would like to see the Islesburgh Summer Exhibition Group be housed at St Clements permanently so that it could be open other times of the year or by special request by any group that wishes to see local talent that includes spinning, music, local photos, local produce all under one roof.

Many people including visitors and local businesses may benefit by having another spacious visitor attraction similar to the new museum and galley shed located in central Lerwick.

If there is an opportunity to see St Clements refurbished then I hope the building will be used for the public and the only way I can see it working
correctly is by having another visitor centre for Lerwick.

Its about time the SIC took note that most of Lerwick's old listed buildings such as Quendale House, Old Tolbooth and Hayfield House are not open to the public.

We need to see older buildings be used for other purposes rather than offices.

If anyone who has a good idea with what to use St Clements for I'd love see them leave comments or on any of the above issues.

Regards
Damien Ristori
Ristod@aol.com




12 December 2006

Venue will be inundated

I THINK the proposed cinema and music venue is a must for Shetland. Presumably the Schools Music Festival will also be held there along with all sorts of other musical events, making our musicians expertise, enthusiasm and energy visible to a far wider audience.

I do have some concerns though having queried the sense in building the new museum at the North Ness at barely above sea level when it was in it's planning stages. It was obvious that the building would be under threat of inundation from the outset, so who thought it would be the best place for it?

Building the new venue and possibly the library there as well, with a cost of manymillions of pounds, seems like a recipe for disaster. It would mean that Shetland could lose it's biggest collections of historical data and exhibits and more money than on any other investments in one fell swoop.

Surely it would be more sensible to build higher up and further away from the sea to give the investment in these buildings the best chance of having a long life expectancy.

It's a bit like the bridge versus tunnel fiasco. You can just bet that the bridge will be forced through and when it's finished everyone will realise
that we should have built a tunnel.

Regards
Sarah McBurnie
SeeShetland@aol.com



8 December 2006

Clear advice on Xmas meals

I HAVE just read the letter by Karen Angus on your letters page concerningthe meals on wheels service over the festive period.

I would be grateful if you would print the following as there appears to be a misunderstanding which may alarm people. I have already sent this information to Karen.

Wherever possible, instead of the normal meals on wheels delivery, meals over the bank holiday days or the festive period are provided by families or friends. This is what most people prefer. However, meals will be provided as usual over Christmas and New Year to anyone who is assessed as needing this service although some kitchens will be closed.

Alternative arrangements have been made in each area of Shetland and will vary - for example in some areas the meal is provided from the residential home, in other areas itis provided through voluntary groups. If you usually receive meals on wheels and are concerned about yourself or are concerned about someone else please inform the duty officer at 92 St Olaf Street tel 744400 or e mail duty@socialwork.shetland.gov.uk

many thanks
Marilyn Harris
Service Manager, Community Care Resources, SIC




8 December 2006

Becoming a laughing stock

ISN'T IT about time those who don't know listened to those that do?

I for one am sick of the arguments and time wasting caused by the so-called debate on the Bressay bridge/tunnel. The money and loss of business revenue to Shetland during all the argy bargy is virtually equivalent to the difference in cost between a bridge and a tunnel.

At the end of the day is a bridge or tunnel really necessary for an island well served by the current ferry system?

It's about time the expertise of those qualified to know what they are talking about, is listened to and acted upon, and lets get on with the job
of bringing work and revenue into Shetland which is been lost due to the attitude of those, who should behave and act like adults who have
responsibility for the care of our community.

When this kind of wrangling gets into national papers the community of Shetland is seen as a laughing stock, not the canny, forwarding thinking
authority of years ago.

With sadness
Sincerely
Mrs S. Willshaw
susanne.willshaw@btinternet.com


 

7 December 2006

Xmas meals on wheels please

THE NEW charges for meals on wheels and homecare services take effect on 1 January. Fair enough, for those who can afford to contribute something towards their care.

I did think £4 per meal is rather steep, but then that includes delivery I suppose. Some elderly and/or housebound people are a bit worried about how they are actually going to be expected to make payments; it's not everyone that has a cheque book, some older people may only have a Post Office or Savings Account. And if the rural post offices do indeed close down, some folk are worried as to how they will be able to get cash? But that's another matter.

What I do feel is rather unfair is that there will be no meals on wheels provided on Christmas Day and New Years Day this year. The two days in the year when traditionally, a hot meal is one of the most important things.

People who may now not have much or any family left, and who will be spending the day alone, may be housebound through infirmity. For people who may have lived through the war - maybe seeing active service themselves, or who may have served our country through National Service - the dinner-delivery lady or man may have been the only human face some folks looked forward to seeing all day.

As we sit surrounded by our families pulling crackers, our stoves and tables groaning under the weight of turkeys, sprouts and roast tatties, spare a thought for those who should have been having a hot meal delivered on a Monday.

In fact those of us that are indeed lucky should all count our blessings - to have the health we do, to have a roof over our heads, and food on the table. Many people in this country and all over the world do not enjoy such luxury.

So please remember the importance of charity, at this the season of excess.

Karen Angus
karen.angus@btinternet.com




5 December 2006

Bad rumours still lurking

SPEAKING as a customer who has supported Chris Hodge and what he has achieved in the last year, his newly opened cafe is exactly what the large warehouse needed.

Having only been opened over a week some may say that it is too soon to judge if the cafe will bring more business to the warehouse but I'm willing to bet that the café, as time goes on, will increase in popularity.

The café should continue to do well if the cooking stays the way it is, producing basic but satisfactory meals at affordable prices which will be good for families and perhaps senior citizens travelling in for shopping trips etc.

Another bonus to Chris Hodge's premises is that wheelchair users will find that the café, along with the rest of the warehouse, has plenty of room to get around.

Sadly there's a downside to this letter which does not affect Chris Hodge directly, but hopefully will allow him to know that bad rumours are still lurking down on Commercial Street.

Having lived in Lerwick all my life I know most locals love to spread rumours, or when they hear rumours have to then pass them on like a curious game of Chinese Whispers, until one person like myself stands up and throws out the criticism and then tells the culprit to realise what has been said is malicious and may be slanderous.

What is the rumour I here you saying? Not one but at least four different locals who I know very well have been told that the cafe at Hodge's has not got any hygiene certificates or health checks, so therefore should not be open.

I think this rumour has to be stopped before any serious action is taken. No doubt some people still refer to the problems Chris had last year with a few local businesses creating trouble trying to have him closed down. This is now old news and if there is still ongoing tension again from a very small minority of businesses on Commercial Street I feel very angry that perhaps jealousy may be what is the real cause of all these awful rumours.

Some shopkeepers on the street still moan about business being taken away but they know deep down that one or two ideas would perhaps see more people shopping on the street.

The SIC should decide to fully pedestrianise Commercial Street so not only able-bodied folk but also the disabled can be safe from speedy cars, and shop without being bothered by lazy drivers. At the same time it would be nice to only allow delivery vehicles and disabled drivers only.

If these ideas can be seriously achieved then why don't the SIC and local shopkeepers get together and agree that pedestrianising Commercial Street could see a lot more customers supporting both their shops and at the same time allow Chris Hodge to trade without jealousy from local competition.

No more rumours please, even if the source may come from trustworthy locals.

Damien Ristori
3 Braefield
Lerwick
RistoD@aol.com 


Editor's note:

Shetland Islands Council's environmental health department yesterday (Monday) confirmed that Chris Hodge's café had been inspected and was now part of the council's ongoing inspection programme. A spokeswoman said there had been no need to take any enforcement action regarding any public health issue there.




5 December 2006

Noises in the head?

RNID Scotland, the charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, and the British Tinnitus Association (BTA), are urging anyone in Scotland who experiences tinnitus to help us raise awareness of the condition by completing our new online survey.

Tinnitus, the medical term for any noise heard in one ear, both ears or in the head, is experienced by 4.7 million people in the UK. The online survey will be looking at how the environment and surroundings can have an impact on people's tinnitus and, by sharing their own experiences, people can help us to raise vital awareness of the condition.

By filling out the new survey, readers will also have the chance to win £100 of RNID products vouchers and two years free membership of the BTA. Please visit www.rnid.org.uk/tinnitus_survey

Thank you.
Delia Henry, Director, RNID Scotland & Ewart Davies, Chairman, BTA




4 December 2006

It's time to be positive

LET'S BE more positive about this marine park idea.

Once again, my old friend Josie Simpson tells all who will listen that he's against a national marine park in Shetland because it would be 'another layer of bureaucracy'. This is a scare story. For 'layer of bureaucracy' read instead: 'a park board with a massive majority of local residents (including fishermen's representatives), helping to set the environmental standards for sustainable fisheries in the marine park area'.

That sounds better, doesn't it? But Josie and a few of his council cronies, as they stealthily avoid detailed public debate on the proposal, insinuate that the greenies want a park so they can stop all fishing inside 12 miles and that the park board would have sinister new powers to regulate fisheries. They don't and it wouldn't.

Josie's read the consultation document so he must know the Scottish Executive has repeatedly said fishing MUST continue in the park and there are NO proposals to give the park board regulatory power over fisheries. Nor need it take any planning or ZCC Act powers away from Shetland Islands Council. It could advise, but not decide. That's what the document says and we ought to take that at face value unless, of course, Josie's suggesting everything the Scottish environment minister, Ross Finnie, says is a pack of lies, by definition.

I'm disappointed that Josie, with his enormous experience, won't give specific reasons for his opposition. What exactly is wrong with a park that would bring massive marketing benefits to our fisheries (Marine Stewardship Council certification, perhaps?) and to other food industries? What's wrong with leading the way in Europe for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture? The benefits to tourism are obvious but everyone would benefit from promoting Shetland as a clean, green-minded place that cares about the health of the seaand produces wholesome food in an environmentally considerate fashion. Recognition as a national park would be the proof of that promise.

Does Josie really believe governments will continue to allow the destructive fishing practices that he, as a fisherman, and I, as a friendly observer of our fisheries, have witnessed around Shetland over the past 40 years? The idea is ridiculous. The changes are coming anyway and they'll be painful for the industry but, with a national park covering the 12-mile limit, we can set our local agenda for how the sea around us is managed and have a better chance of financial help for the fleet to change over to less damaging fishing methods.

This is no time for Little Shetlanderism. We need to be positive and get involved, not stand aside in glorious but negative isolation.

Shetland is by far the best place for Scotland's first National Coastal and Marine Park and the authorities in Edinburgh are beginning to realise it, whatever nonsense they've been told by SNH bosses in Inverness. We're also far ahead of the rest of the country in marine planning, thanks to the work at the NAFC Marine Centre in Scalloway which Josie quite rightly supports. We could have a park up and running long before the other contenders because we've already done much of the preparatory work.

It's time the council got behind the convener and the more far-sighted members like Drew Ratter, who're looking at the opportunities for all our industries, rather than mounting a rearguard action to prolong environmentally indefensible practices by a declining section of the fishing industry.

As I said at the Althing last week (in a debate not considered sufficiently important for our local print newspaper to report it), we should ignore the scare stories and regard the park proposal as an opportunity, not as yet another threat from evil, scheming Edinburgh bureaucrats whose only aim in life, apparently, is to hatch dastardly plots against honest fishermen.

Since I first canvassed Josie Simpson, as a local parliamentary candidate back in 1974, I've been looking for the opening that would give Shetland the chance of something very like local control over the 12-mile limit. The park is that chance. Let's not throw it away.

Jonathan Wills
(written in a personal capacity)
dunter@seabirds-and-seals.com



4 December 2006


Hidden ID card threat

D SPENCE'S letter to Shetland News has been niggling away at me, because the writer has reached the wrong conclusion about ID cards and databases. In the end I decided I had to write, to warn others of the dangers of this breakneck chase to keep tabs on us all, at all times, no matter what the consensus opinion on it might be, even if it was - which it is not by any means - a well-informed consensus.

D Spence of Firth may be a lost cause, but I might help others to be able to look ahead and assess the personal security threat for themselves.

I'm growing increasingly unhappy about the amount of personal information the government seems to require of British citizens, British taxpayers and the like. The idea of some kind of national identity card giving access to a single database of information about one person is very worrying.

Your correspondent D Spence is quite right to suggest I must have something to hide if I am opposed to ID cards. Of course, I do. Personal information of all kinds is important to me and I want to safeguard it thank you. I do not want to have it made accessible to anyone who enters into a computer database.

Your correspondent describes a national identity card as "an absolute dream come true." Quite right. It would be dream come true for every identity fraudster on this planet; if we let it.

In the USA they have had a one-stop national database for some years, but it is now the source of a huge amount of crime by fraudsters who have stolen identities of American citizens just by getting to know the victim's national insurance number. Having one piece of personal information like this is the key to unlock all the other information held on the database about that person. Identities accessed like that can be cloned, so bank accounts can be robbed, entitlements diverted, false credit can be obtained (in the cloned person's name) and the consequences of this can be disastrous and can also ruin personal credit ratings for years to come, because credit
databases do not know when a credit fraud has been perpetrated as the result of a criminal act and unless you tell them and provide proof of that this was identity theft you could well be marked as having defrauded some creditor. Credit databases, unfortunately, are one of those areas where guilt is assumed from the start and those presumed guilty have to prove their innocence, not the other way round.

And please don't trot out any arguments about all this stuff being held on a secure database. When has a British government ever got the installation of a large scale computer system right, whether we are talking about air traffic control computers or the Child Protection Agency? The state-of-the-art computer systems always have inherent weaknesses. If clever criminals can hack into the Pentagon as well as major clearing banks and other confidential secured databases, they can clone my identity, or yours off a gov.uk database. Announcing a new secure database with all the bells and security whistles is like a starting gun for top flight computer hackers. When they have had their fun and cracked it and got inside, they can sell the means of entry as a commodity to anyone willing to pay their price.

I once had my identity stolen and it came to me as an absolute shock, in the form of a heart-stopping personal telephone account for thousands of pounds for hundred of calls charged to my home number for calls made to a variety of mobile telephones in the UK, in the US and in India.

No on-line, or internal security breach was involved on that occasion, but the principle is the same. According to BT security in Liverpool (who were extremely helpful and I didnot in the end have to pay) one of the earliest numbers on the account was for a public call box, one of a long line of such boxes at a London railway terminal. Had I called home from such a telephone box, they asked? Could I confirm for them where it was? I could. I had called home to Shetland when I had got off a London train.

They concluded that someone had occupied the public call box next to one I had visited in a bank of call boxes at Kings Cross Station. That person had observed the numbers I had dialled when I called home to report my safe arrival, including the pin number that identified my telephone credit card which charged back all my away from home calls to my home number. That simple act of identity theft caused me a great deal of upset and a great deal of work to undo the financial damage.

How many people take trouble to conceal their pin numbers at ATM holes in the wall outside our banks, or at Post Office terminals, or in telephone boxes where they knowthey are completely alone?

There's surely enough crime in Britain already without the cleverer criminals being aided and abetted by the British government furnishing them with a big, fat database, bursting with personal identities and packed with information. Rich pickings indeed and here is a British government almost colluding with the thieves by furnishing the means of committing their crime!

As I said, I did not in the end have to pay, but I did have to spend hours and hours going through my telephone account identifying which calls on it were genuinely from me or members of my family - cross referencing with five people altogether, three of whom were students away from home, all armed with legitimate clones of my telephone credit card so they could call home anytime without cost and used ONLY for calls home or for emergencies not to call friends or acquaintances.

That is how simple this fraud was. Once my pin and card details were known, they could be sold on, cloned to a swipe card, or attached to a thief's mobile phone. All achieved using the pin and registration number for a telephone credit card that only ever left Shetland once in its entire life.

I am glad to learn that D Spence of Firth can sleep easy on the issue of identity cards, but I'm afraid I woke up some time ago. I only hope any eventual wake up for your correspondent is not as rude or arresting, time-consuming or as costly, as mine turned out to be.

On consideration of identity cards linked to a single database, caveat emptor (let buyer beware) should be applied, if we are sensible. Terrorists or no terrorists, database linked ID cards just doesn't do it for me. Neither do edicts about the need for ID cards to help identify terrorists coming from Home Secretary John Reid, who lost all credibility in Shetland when he sent his expulsion enforcement army here to try and eject Sakchai Makao. Whenever I hear government ministers declaring that a "secure" ID card system is an absolute must, why do I keep hearing the words "weapons of mass destruction in Iraq capable of strike within 40 minutes?"

I'm not a reactionary or an anarchist. I'm just a good old-fashioned British liberal who does not want my life to be run by, regulated or watched over by the state. I would like to do that for myself thank you and I will be vigilant about terrorism for the sake of national security and for my own and my family's personal security. The state is not too good atcatching criminals who steal by running around on databases without authority, so I really can't see how they will manage to catch up with the criminal terrorists who will be trying to do the same thing at some point just to finance their operations and cause the nation and its people economic chaos.

As far as ID cards and databases are concerned, I think the appropriate verdict is one from sound Scottish jurisprudence: the verdict of NOT PROVEN.

Strangely enough, the debate on this is all set to start again, because in the Queen's Speech at the opening of Parliament, her majesty Queen Elizabeth announced that her government would present a bill to introduce a national identity card. Well, we'll see how it fares.

In my view, the government can keep its identity cards, but I will accept personal responsibility for myself and I will keep my own identity safe -and keep it mine- thank you.

Voters in Britain need to start asking some serious questions on this matter of those seeking their ballots in the forthcoming elections, including I hope, sleepy-heads in Firth or any other part of Shetland.

In case D Spence thinks my use of "at" instead of the usual @ in my email address means I have something to hide, I do. I don't want hundreds of automatic internet searchbots across the world harvesting my email address from a public website and selling it on to people who will then deluge me with thousands of junk mail messages over subsequent years, for goods and services which I have not asked for and which I do not want.

I would advise you to do the same spinner72"at"tiscali.co.uk but you have already left yourself exposed in this area by displaying your personal email address on a public website. Sorry about that. You need to be more vigilant about your identity. However, "each to their own," as you pointed out, which is quite a good maxim to apply in this area of concern....

Yours sincerely
Leslie Lowes
leslielowes"at"supanet.com



2 December 2006

SIC, explain yourselves!

I WRITE in support of Carole Radford. Like her I cannot understand how a small community like Shetland can get itself into such a state over the proposal for a fixed crossing to Bressay.

About two years ago I wrote to the press in similar terms and quoted the cities of Sydney and San Francisco where thousands of people are moved each day across water by ferry.

There is also the example of Helsingborg in Sweden which has a major short sea route to Elsinore in Denmark. The journey takes barely 20 minutes and yet you can have a sit-down lunch in that time as well as embarking and disembarking.

Before the bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo was constructed Helsingborg was offered the link as it was much the shorter crossing but refused. The only reply to my letter was from a heavy vehicle driver living in Bressay who favoured a tunnel as he did not relish crossing a bridge in the frequent high winds.

The impasse has reached a ridiculous level and I would like to suggest a much more open debate involving the general public. The Lerwick Port Authority has explained in clear terms why a bridge is not suitable for the harbour and as it is one of the few large earners and employers on the islands their reasons are valid and carry much weight in the argument.

The council has said that there is a need for more land for housing development in spite of the fact that there is a considerable amount of land south of Lerwick which could be developed. They have said it is not entirely suitable but a city like St John's in Newfoundland with a similar topography finds it is possible to expand and has done so successfully.

For the Council to spend millions in taking this dispute outside Shetland is in my viewirresponsible.

I would like to call upon the councillors to explain in much more detail why they persist in this dispute. I find it difficult to believe that the need for housing land should involve such expense and the time of senior officials.

John Jamieson Blanche
Daldrishaig
Aberfoyle
john@jjblanche.co.uk