Pilton Sucks dotCom

Friends and readers. Communities right across this nation have a number of things in common, one of them being activists. Communities need activists to argue and debate,to promote and get involved with the workings of their community. Without these people who for the most give up their spare time for no payment, communities would be at the mercy of politicians and may well be used as political pawns to be moved around to suit the political climate.

We in Greater Pilton are blessed with some of the most experienced activists in the city,some of them have even got minds of their own and will not be led by the nose or told what to say and think by either outside experts who do not live in this community but to be fair offer us their expertise, or local politicians who have agendas of their own,and their pals to act it out.

All the associates of PiltonSucks.com live or work in this community, so we have a indepth working knowledge of what goes on. Of course we are not in the inner circle of hangers on, so like the majority we rely on information leaking out.

That in itself is sinister, but if you take a closer look it is not altogether a suprise when you take a look at the make up of some of the management committees.

Let us choose one at random-say for instance The Granton Information Centre. A well funded project and if you are to believe the North Edinburgh News the best thing since sliced bread. It is of course just a coincidence that the NENs reporter David Pickering is the partner of the manager of GIC Caroline Pickering.

Their management committee includes the great and the good Two local councillors Fitzpatrick and Mcginnis[were does she get the time] ex Labour group leader John Mulvey, and dodgy Derick Suttie. Now as much as that is good for the GIC is it not overkill, or is there a more deep seated problem within GIC. Remember it was not that long ago it was in a mess,that was kept from the community, but in a flash or slight of hand,abra cadabra it is one of the best funded projects in the community, and yet it has difficulty getting main stream funding, you would think with the fabay dabay management committee they have, it would get funding, but not the case.

Further examination reveals that Ms. Pickering prides herself or more likely kids herself that she is part of this inner circle.So the first two emerge Ms. Pickering and Ms Mcginnis[were does she get the time] but the circle is not complete so let us move on. Let us move to the invisible project North Edinburgh Area Renewal or NEAR to its tight band of friends.And one Christine Docherty, who appointed her[have a guess] a more incompetent individual you could not have the misfortune to meet. Yet another member of this knitting circle.

But still the circle is not complete who is missing, we need a fall guy or woman a community activist. Is it Betty Mcvay we do not think so, lets move on is it Cammy day no he was bought off cheap. Is It Fred Marinello doubt it. who could it be.After extensive nosey parkering we have come up with the name of Betty Stevenson,quite possibly and suprise suprise not only Ms Hinds new best friend but citizen of the year the plot thickens.

Ms. Stevenson is a reasonable bet we are not so convinced but we will go with it. But still the circle is not complete,it lacks that vital spark called funding, now who could it be Jimmy butler, no to much of a wild card, Ian Cooke possibly,also an outside advisor, dodgy Derick Suttie-you must be joking.

So if you perm any one of three your circle is almost complete.We thought Lesley Hinds could have been an inner circle member,but cheery Leslie probably just stands on the outside watching what goes on.

So there you have it a community with activists some a little to active with self interest at heart. But we still need activists to breath life into the community either in a clandistine way or more out in the open, it is all part of the rich tapestry of community life.  P.S did someone not point a finger at Craigmillar

Friends and Readers. Our source at shrubhill house tells us that a meeting took place at council headquarters Waterloo Place on Friday 9-06-06. Present at that meeting were one of the victims of the MUIRHOUSE BULLY, a unison rep, a minute taker and the independant investigator.

But hold on was it minuted that the investigator knows the bully and has had a working association with him in the past.Probably not but we would like it minuted that this is indeed the case, and any investigation is improper and should be stopped immediatly.

How can the victim expect a fair hearing-he cant- how can this investigator fail to tell both the victim and unison he knows the bully. The minutes should clearly reflect a conflict of interest,and the investigator replaced right away.

Our source told us this was not properly  thought out and was more a panic measure, in a bid to deflect the heat away from the real culprits.

This farce cannot be anything than bad for the public face of the department, once again as we have already said the cover up goes on, all in an attempt to try and protect a small minded empty headed bully who is in fact dragging the department down.

In reality PiltonSucks.com is doing the Social Work Department a favour by highlighting this obvious error they have made in appointing this so called independant investigator.

What they should be doing is with immediate effect suspend the bully and investigate Muirhouse Social Work Department -Criminal Justice section, before he has the chance to do any more damage or destroy more evidence.

You have a chance to come clean and rid yourselves of this character, or are you to frightened that he might bring down some of you with him.

That is part of the price you might have to pay for your lack of action over his behaviour, behaviour as we have said previously goes back many years.

The present victims THE MUIRHOUSE TWO have had the courage to come forward and have been subjected to terrible treatment from the department. As we have pointed out in previous posts, we have received information about the damage to the health of one of the victims.

So for gods sake show some courage investigate what you should be investigating, and not some sham or pretence to cover your backs.

Be aware it will all come out sooner rather than later and there will be no hiding places, heads will roll,was the phrase that was used to us by a senior manager. The damage to health has been done that cannot be reversed we can only hope no permanent damage has been done to the victim, and he can regain full health.

We at Pilton Sucks .com have told already about the growing number of Social Work staff who are reading our site and have sent us their views, it does not make pleasant reading for Shrubhill. What you forget to understand or dismiss, is that the cruel treatment of one individual on another does not go un-noticed forever, and people will stand up and be counted, you cannot rubbish everybody.

So do something right do something with honour, punish bully/s in the department, you can make a start by getting rid of the MUIRHOUSE BULLY-you can probably hear the cheering already. 

Friends and readers. Summer how ever brief is upon us and of course that means the silly season is upon us to. While some of you might be jetting away this summer and others not,spare a thought for the hard pressed politician, who is as we write is sharpening the knife to back stab a so called colleague in an attempt to be top of the list for the new so called super wards.

We in Greater Pilton are in one of these super duper wards and the back stabbing stakes has begun. The runners and riders in this shortish haul stakes are- 1. Lesley Hinds, her form guide is -currently Lord Provest until Mr. Cardownie or if Mr.Cardownie gets re-elected, represents the ward of Muirhouse, and is cheery and cheerful, but may make the mistake of trying to regain the group leadership,a possible jumper to Edinburgh West Ward.

2. Councillor William Fitzpatrick-or Bill Ballie to his mates, aimable kind of guy and should not be underestimated, currently represents part of royston[the part he stays in] and some of West Granton, Mr. Fitzpatrick is a bit of a slugger and may well go the distance, but could just as well fall at the first hurdle if not careful, he is no light weight and his tummy testifies to that.

3. Mrs. Elizbeth Mcginnis-or bunty to her least closest friends is the dark horse in the back stabbing stakes. Former education convener, and if she supports the right leadership candidate may well be again[where does she get the time] Active in anything she can stick her nose into usually in an attemp to further herself,but she is not alone there. Rummored  to be quite fond of the odd foreign holiday,[where does she get the time]Also chair of the waterfront board and manager of the pilton elderly project[where does she get the time]. Was once in competition with councillor Hinds to see who could have the biggest house extension[lets call it a draw]

These my friends are the runners and riders in the Labour Party back stabbing stakes one may well have to drop out-who will it be isnt it exciting it almost makes chess look exciting. Well place your bets and sit back and watch the fun, our three erstwhile candidates will soon be falling over themselves to shake babies and kiss hands[thats right isnt it] We cannot predict the out come who really cares, but there will be a dash to the finishing line, who will have the stamina, who will trip the other up, who will dish the dirt.

Watch this space for more exciting mouth watering action you will get it all here. WOW we can hardly wait.  

Friends and Readers. Our source at Shrubhill house tells us that movement on the Muirhouse Two Is immenent.We are told that a senior manager from childrens and families has been asked to look at the case of one of the Muirhouse two.

Pilton sucks .com is alarmed that this manager is not only from within the district which is very questionable, but has a previous association with the bully who he may be investigating.

If our information is accurate, this is a disgrace and not on, for the outcome will surely be a whitewash and yet another coverup. Any investigation must be conducted by an outside person or body who has no association with either the victim or the bully.

We contacted the City council for their views on the matter and were told off the record that while it is a departmental issue,it would not be proper for any investigation to be conducted if the investigator knew or had an association with either party.

We have told the city council that there is a definate link between the investigating manager and the bully,we will inform unison of this matter and make them aware of the information we have received.

Once again the Social Work Department have bungled and should with immediate effect bring an outside person in and allow a full frank and open investigation, and clear up the mess they have created.

We repeat what we have said before, unless the department puts a stop to bullying behaviour from these small minded individuals it will continue right under their noses.

As one of our contributers said bullying will drive good people away and may well have an adverse effect on their health,and what you will be left with is the dregs who will hide away and crawl into a corner until the heat dies down, and then resurface as though nothing has happened,knowing full well that their bosses who have been duped will take  no action other than to blame the victim/s and say it was all their fault.

We at Pilton sucks.com think differently. Again we challenge any bully to try it on with us,we will not run away, quite the opposite, we will expose you for what you are, a mindless nothing not capable of anything other than massaging your own ego at the expense of others, while the Social Work Department stands by and does nothing.

Think on for we are not alone. Many others have joined our anti bullying in the workplace campaign,and we are receiving information freqently on workplace bullying,so next time a bully trys it on we advise, take a look over your shoulder before you spit your venom out you never know who will be watching or listening. 

Friends and Readers. You must be wondering what earth shatering desicions that your community councils have taken since they took up position some weeks back.

Well the truth is nothing,no suprise there then. These community councils in theory should have been a forward move for democracy in Greater Pilton, but since the sticky hands of the local rulers are running the show then in truth nothing will happen except they will be used as extensions of the ever fading Labour party whose local membership would fit in a telephone box.

Why do our local rulers not realise that people are turning away from the party, and will not return until they feel they are not being used as mere voting foder, to re-elect the same old tired faces, singing the same old song, telling the same old repeated stories, that have long since fallen on deaf ears.

In truth if our three magnificent councillors had really been interested in making sure the community councils hit the ground walking,they would or should have encouraged the leading activists to front the councils and take them forward.

Instead with the exception of councillor Fitzpatrick the other two conspired to make sure or try and make sure that the most inexperienced people took pole positions. This they will say is democracy, but in reality it is about control, controling the agenda, controling what people say and and interfering at every possible opportunity

We at Pilton Sucks.com received last week a breakdown of the office bearers of the community councils and their colleagues. It is very obvious that Royston/Wardieburn has got some questions to answer. And suprise suprise who is the councillor-none other than foreign holiday queen and friend of the waterfront developers and defender of the elderly, Councillor Elizabeth Mcginnis.

Our local bookmaker right at the start of these elections made Royston/Wardirburn favourite in the gerry mandering stakes, and it looks like unless we are very much mistaken the bookie got it spot on. Well we at pilton sucks.com are not by nature gamblers, but we could not resist a wager on the gerrymandering stakes, and lo and behold we won, so we will donate our winnings to a good cause,[not the labour party] probably a bottle of brasso, so we can shine the brass neck of councillor Mcginnis. 

Nine days to go and if you do not already know the football world cup is fast approaching. One of our associates is off to the opening ceremony, and to take in a couple of games.

One of the main reasons he is going apart from the games is to take in another less well advertised game. It is a game organised by a local trade union to raise awareness of the problem of workplace bulling in some organisations in Germany.

We became aware of this when they contacted us for some information regarding workplace bullying, and what is being done to put a stop to it.

We were happy to help as it raises the problem of bullying.

So if and when you sit down to watch the opening ceremony remember that there is another game taking place at the same time, which should be getting as much publicity but wont. Never the less it is another step taken towards making the public aware of this crime against the person.

Friends and readers. It has come to our attention that the destruction of books is taking place at one of the Social Work Department workshops in Bonnington road. Somebody once said that the pen is mightier than the sword. obviously not in this case. Should the over pressed taxpayer not see something a little more constructive than that for their money.

We are sure that if senior managers knew this was going on regardless of any kind of petty excuse,they would or should take a dim view.

The destruction of books smacks of a nazi type kind of brief and is truly disturbing. What idiot authorised this,what idiot gave permission. Sad times indeed. We wonder what the Evening News would think of this, they had better be careful there is a written word ripper about