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The truths they don't want you to read....

Monday, April 16, 2007

Polling cards

Holyrood, Comhairle and political partiesI got my polling card today, which has thrown me into ever more of a dilemma about who to vote for. I'm desperately reading the manifestos to see who might have some policies I agree with. I know who I'm not going to vote (since you ask, hypocrites, idiots and those without coherent policies - and I mean that in the nicest possible caring and inclusive way) for in some of the ballots, but that doesn't really help.

As I'm away on polling day, I'm also applying for a postal vote, which has to be in by Wednesday.

So far, I've had two Council leaflets and two Constituency leaflets through my door. One of the four has been inspiring and interesting, whilst the other three are tedious and hackneyed. I fear I am going to have to vote for the ones I dislike least, which is better than not voting, but not by much. A large number of candidates have been in to see me with their leaflets either prior to printing or just immediately after. Very flattering for me (and, please, I am no guru) but also quite difficult when they are competing in the same ward.

(update) The polling card is actually misleading as it tells me I have "3 votes". Actually I have up to 8 votes in 3 polls. Cue more spoilt papers.

The whole Holyrood campaign is one of tedium and the parties not really trying (as far as I can judge), with everyone trying to get by on their reputation - or who they are NOT - rather than anything positive, and I find that demeaning and irritating.

Perhaps I'm just getting old and sensible. :-) But perhaps the picture says it all.

Jaded and jealous? No, just glad to be out of the fray.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I wonder if our MP returned to Westminster today.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Ex-councillor Nicolson would be advised not to allow defamatory comments on his blog. He could end up in jail.

George Dutton said...

"As I'm away on polling day, I'm also applying for a postal vote, which has to be in by Wednesday."

Even if people vote for you they might NOT be that`s how bad things have got under New Labour...

Taken from the Respect web site...

George Galloway exposes voting fraud - Video of Commons Speech
25/02/2007


MPs from Poland and Germany are visiting Britain on behalf of the Council of Europe. In a humiliation for the government, they will be investigating the lack of integrity in Britain's voting system and the systematic corruption of the voting process. Voting fraud has mushroomed since the government introduced the postal voting on demand system.

In a major speech in the debate called by the Tory opposition in the Commons , George Galloway accused the government of a cynical subversion of the electoral system in order to increase their chances of winning general and local elections. Postal voting on demand has destroyed the secrecy of the ballot introduced in 1872 to stop corruption and allowed the easy theft of voters' ballot papers.

Copy and paste into address bar.

http://www.respectcoalition.org
/index.php?ite=1330

Anonymous said...

The Whole world has gone crazy.
I do not like negative politics, don't rubbish other parties policies, but big-up your own policies. I was not happy to see the Labour Party slagging off the SNP policies on theis broadcast last night, very negative, and it will cost them at the polls if they continue in this way. Tws.....

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Phew, anon#1 really has some 'issues'. Somewhere in a dark cupboard in an eerie cold back room is a doll of Maroot with dozens of pins stuck in it. And there'll be one of that Macneil bloke there too.

"I'm not really interested in politics"

"I dont really care who wins the election"

Hahaha!! ROTFLMAO!!

That'll be why you've even dragged God into it now (could've sworn I came across Hitler the other day too, a post by 'jimmy', wasn't it?). As 'jimmy' said "Quite worrying". [refer also to Stornoway Chat forum, 'Lewis Girl': "This is quite worrying..."

I'm not sure if you're merely a poisonous little troll deperately seeking attention/argument, or just as nutty as a fruitcake. I think the answer may be 'a bit of both'.

[Stornoway Chat forum, 'Lewis Girl']: "One of your own elected members is going around telling people that Angus B MacNeil only took his jacket off and that there were other people in the room. I think that makes it an orgy."

[Stornoway Chat forum, 'Lewis Girl']: "I am not interested in politics..."

Interesting similarities between these posts and anon#1's comments here...I suspect there is a lot more going on than is immediately obvious with several of the anonymouses (all the same person) on this blog and a certain 'demure lady' on Stornoway Chat, eh?

Angus said...

After a lot of thought, I've pulled three of the comments about Murdo MacLeod, for the following reasons:-
Although he has the right of reply, he probably won't use it
Some of the words used are very impolite

I have NOT censored them following the phone call from his daughter this morning, nor a 7.15am visit from another member of the family, nor because I have any view on the defamatory (or otherwise) nature of the postings.

I am aware that certain comments about me and others are directed at matters not in the public domain, and I have let them go past, but it is perhaps time to put them into the public domain.

The third deleted post related to an FoI request I made to the Health Board relating to the lease of a property (which I won't identify). Part of the response to the request was, “I can confirm that the owner of the property had a local representative, Murdo MacLeod, who allowed us to view the property and if any problems arose, the person we should contact. Mr MacLeod acted on behalf of the owner, (his daughter), however all transactions were with (her) direct. NHS Western Isles employees living in the property were Mr Ronnie Cleland, Interim Chair and Mr Laurence Irvine, Chief Executive.” As the lease was not signed until late 2006, this was presumably not the reason that Murdo MacLeod sat through the vote of no confidence in the Health Board, at the meeting in the Town Hall.

I will bite to the repeated provocation. The relationship between Murdo MacLeod and I broke down when I requested in October 2004 that he deal with matters relating to my family Trusts, of which he is a Trustee. Despite the Trustees giving 7 promises to resign over the past two years which have come to nothing, and despite 15-20 letters to Murdo and the other Trustees asking them for information, they have yet to provide a complete set of accounts for any of the eleven years that the Trusts have been in operation. It appears that the Trusts have suffered very substantial losses over the period, but Murdo has refused to meet with the family or provide any information about the operation of the Trusts. When another related matter is concluded, this is likely to become a legal issue.

In the meantime, my parents do not know if their life savings are properly accounted for, or not. Murdo refuses to meet with our family to discuss this.

This problem was further compounded when my name was used – without my permission – in correspondence from Murdo to solicitors about a lease of a commercial property owned by Murdo or his family. A document I drafted was misrepresented, and my professional status was used to justify certain actions in a manner I utterly disapprove of.

I will not allow any comments on these matter. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for clarifying this Angus, although I must confess to no knowledge of the matters of which you speak in the second half of your reply. It's absolutely none of my business, so I'm not going to comment on it.

This is my last post on your blog, Angus (no, no tears, please!). Right now, I am thoroughly fed up with politics, local and national, and am just going to wait for May 3rd to cast my votes, then have a beer and relax. Also, as you will no longer be directly involved with the windfarms in the capacity of councillor, I feel it is unfair for me to criticise your position on these developments any more.

I am thoroughly disgusted with some of the comments I've seen recently on this blog from 'anonymous' (though I'm no angel myself) and feel that some posters have really gone over the top. Frankly Angus, I think your blog is being ruined by some of the anonymous troglodytes posting here. They are crossing a line I don't want to cross by replying to them any more, and that also is part of the reason I'm 'retiring'. I am not scared of these people, I simply don't want to waste my time on them. Life's too short and the weather outside is nice.

I would like to give credit where credit is due though, Angus, and acknowledge the fact that you have posted every single comment I've ever submitted (and that's a lot!) without a single word removed - admirable! Not everyone would have done that and, on looking back on some of my earlier comments, I realise I may have gone slightly over the top at times, for which I apologise. Although I disagree vigorously with you about industrial-scale windfarms, I do agree with you on some other matters and acknowledge you are willing to tell it like it is.


Good luck for the future. I might even tell you who I am (was!), over a pint sometime ;-)


(p.s. in view of your comment at the end of the post, you may or may not wish to publish this comment, I don't mind either way.)

Angus said...

Machaseo,

Let me break my own rule and ask you to continue to harass me. I may not be on the next Council, but I will still actively advocate the same policies that I believe in, like free speech, constructive argument and taking crap as part of the responsibility of taking decisions.

Keep up the good work and ignore the trolls.

If you want to email me, I will respect your confidentiality.

ps I'll buy the first round.

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