Pilton Sucks dotCom

Pilton Sucks has reached the parts that others can’t or won’t reach. We have received correspondence from a reader in Wisconsin USA who tells us that he has followed with interest our campaign on workplace bulling,and goes on to tell us that it is now classified in that part of the USA as a crime,and the authorities will proscecute those found to be bullying in the workplace.

Pilton Sucks of course accepts no credit for this forward looking inititive,but it shows that if the will is there this kind of crime can be punished by the law as it should. We cannot and must not tolerate this kind of behaviour in the workplace,and those that would cover up or turn a blind eye to this kind of behaviour are as guilty as the thugs that carry out this most unacceptable kind of behaviour. We  welcome comments from wherever in the world they come from.

Could it be that Pilton Sucks is a must read for the citizens of the planet. Judging by our readership anything is possible. India, Pakistan Saudia Arabia, Russia, Milton Keyes and Edinburgh City Council have all tuned in. And to boot we are in the process of discussing the possibility of going to print. This will be a new avenue and direction for Pilton Sucks one which will take us to a broader readership and allow citizens to speak their mind and not be censored by mood dependent editors.

The freedom to speak out is enshrined in our way of life,and there are many out there who would seek to damp down that freedom. Pilton Sucks remains a people orientated site and will speak out and campaign against injustice where we find it. There should be nothing to hide,if there is it must be dodgy,what other conclusion can there be. These days we are surrounded by secrecy,this is designed to quell any probing questions which the public at large may ask.

For instance where on else in the democratic world would an elected Prime Minister stand down while still in office only to be replaced by someone who is to be elected by members only? It could only be Britain with it’s unwritten constitution. Brown has gone out of his way to undermine Blair at every opportunity he got. He now stands at the door of number 10 ready to assume office given him by a tiny percentage of the population. Will if or when he is elected make a difference,doubtful,he is more likely to start a campaign for re-election. There is gross unfairness in this country. The obscenity of million pound golden handshakes to a handful of greedy bastards while others are barely on the breadline. The billions wasted on weapons of mass destruction weapons we can never use while many people don’t have a roof over their head. the massive gap between the haves and have nots has never been wider than under this administration. All this and more has to be addressed to provide a fairer society,will Brown tackle any of this. He preaches about his ethics and beliefs,so let’s see shall we. He and his chosen apostles have a big job to do are they up for it or will we just get the same old spin we are sick of and don’t believe anymore.

Remember Cameron and his privilged bunch of twits are waiting in the wings 10 points ahead in the opinion polls. Brown has to get it right and make a real difference in peoples lifes. He could make a real start by setting about these greedy utility companies who have the power of life and death over the people who cannot pay their over inflated bills. While they pay themselves and their share holders big dividends the poor freeze and the weak suffer. Scottish power is in the throws of being taken over by a spanish mob,why is that allowed,who will benifit there,certainly not the average joe.

These jokers can buy and sell lives as they please and nobody raises as much as an eyebrow,so there you are Mr. Brown get stuck in there or have you no gumtion for the fight. For sure if the light weight Cameron gets in he will do nothing to help the poorest and weakest in society,quite the opposite his prince John attitude is clear cut taxes for the rich and make the poor pay in as many underhand ways as possible.

So Mr Brown has a huge job and not just what he tells us all of the above as well. if he dosen’t then all he is doing is keeping the seat warm for Cameron to park his Tory backside on.

The drama and fever pitch of the elections are now but a memory and the process of healing and reconstruction must begin.

We at Pilton Sucks can now bring to you a report which we kept shelved until the elections were over. On Monday the 31st April one of our associates George was approached by letter at first from a former employee of the infamous Muirhouse Social Work Centre. This employee had worked for the Community Service Team and had been subjected to abusive behaviour similar to the other victims of this bully.

George arranged to meet this former employee to hear his story.What transpired in the  two hours that they met together,George described to the Pilton Sucks team as horrifing.Subjected to behaviour that bordered on torture this employee in his own words became a shattered person. Unable to relate to the job he was trying to do,he sought help from the his doctor who as well as medicating him advised he sought help from senior management/Union. He told George he was constantly picked on and told his work was not up to scratch, he was given work to do and service users to supervise in conditions that clearly breached health and safety guidlines.

When he told the bully this things got worse for him and he was subjected to even more abusive behaviour. He also said that the bully was well known outside the closeted world of the Muirhouse Office for his behaviour,but management turned a blind eye,and nothing was done. This had a familiar ring for us as this was a pattern of behaviour we had heard about before. This employee now wishes to come forward as a victim and a witness.

The Health and Social Care Department have it in their remit to clean up their act,but have to date done nothing. Even with the weight of evidence against this thug nothing has been done. We have it on good authority that an investigation did take place but by people who had a long association with the bully. What evidence we have heard about is overwhelming and still nothing is done.

We understand from a source inside the Department that those involved in this joke of an investigation knew well there was a problem in Muirhouse but were for some unknown reason reluctant to take the appropriate action.

Don Millar,Harry Robertson, John Tyson,Marion Grey all invoved in what is now a deception and cover up not only to protect the bully but from their own point of view and much more important to protect themselves,for doing nothing. Pilton Sucks now has a dossier built up over a period of time which clearly shows that this farce of an investigation was cobbled together badly handled and stitched up right from the start. We have recently been informed that two eye witnesses were never called to give evidence,draw your own conclusions from that. John Mules a senior manager even tried to ridicule a victim in an attempt to cover up brutality of a savage nature.

We showed our dossier to the Pilton Sucks solicitor who also met with George and the former employee. She was astonished no action had been taken,and that a criminal compensation claim was a real possibility also one of negligence on the part of the Department We to were astonished to learn from our source that one of the victims has been waiting nearly 5 years, yes 5 years to get justice on two different counts. This victim has been sidelined by this caring sharing department and has been left to rot without hope and without employment.

This Department riddled with incompetent management have up to this point got away with sitting on their hands and doing nothing hoping it all goes away. We can tell you it won’t and this whole Criminal Justice set up has to be looked at seriously and overhauled from top to bottom. We also know of a number of service users,some very vunerable who were treated with contempt and told to work in conditions that breached the health and safety at work act.

We have also been informed that two service users or clients as they are called received compensation for injuries sustained while carrying out work in a council building which had previously been condemed. If this report is accurate then it is indeed a very serious matter. Be aware that service users or clients are entitled to the same duty of care as an employee while carrying out work they are instructed to do. 

Pilton Sucks would like to point out through our solicitor that should and we hope it does that this mess reaches a court of law we will make our dossier available.

Pilton Sucks won’t just rock the boat we will capsize it. Unfortunatly we will forget to pack life jackets so it will be every man for himself. We think the rats will leave the sinking ship first.

Why did the Labour Party lose both locally and nationally. It seems they are a number of opinions and reasons floating around. Was it as one cynical punter told us that they had an anul retentive mentality. Quite possibly so but the real reasons are a bit more clearer than that. The left took the punters vote for granted,there is no point in them arguing with that,because they did take the punters for granted,and the punters gave them a kicking.

If we take our own ward here in Forth, Labour lost a councillor and barely squeezed 4th place with the other sitting councillor. Why was that. In the main it was taken for granted that Labour could not be beaten,yet they were and well beaten. Where do they go next. Oblivion perhaps. Who knowes,but for certain Labour has to start again and build from the community up,not behind closed doors dreaming up silly meaningless resolutions which the average joe dosen’t give a toss about.

Had they got the basics right Labour may well have won again and won well. But now it looks like it is a tired redundant out of touch political pressure group that play no part in peoples lives,who don’t seem to have the enthusiasim to start again at the beginning.Labour got involved in things it should not have. The old pals act where jobs where handed out as where grants as patronage,and the creeping virus of sleaze began to hang over the community.

Where holes in the roads and pavements where allowed to get into a dangerous state and when we asked what was being done back came the answer,nowght to do with us. community councils being set up in the image of their political masters,as Labour tried in vain to stem the flow of support that was ebbing away. It did not dawn on them that none of this was working,and that a clean break with the rot that had set in was desperatly needed.

This and other communities needed a Labour party that was at one with the needs of the community,not dictating to them what was good for them,and that we didn’t know any better,but the old pals act continued on as Labour was disintegrating. Months before the election it was clear Labour was in real trouble,did the local Labour party turn to those who may have been able to assist,no but the old pals act continued. There where and still are a number of good people in this community who have it is pleasing to say minds of their own who if asked may well have saved labour from the hammering it got,alas no but the old pals act continued.

When it was clear to all that locally Labour required new faces at the helm after years of service by both councillors Fitzpatrick and McGinnis, it never happened,when as we suggested labour should have selected it’s candidates from the community at large,nobody listened,but the  old pals act continued on. When we suggested that local people be on the boards of the secretive Waterfront setups,we where ignored,but the old pals act continued on.

When we argued for more far more local employment on this development we where given bland answers,and vague promises. But the old pals act trundled on while the community grew tired of nothing going on and patronising the order of the day,the old pals act continued to earn their salarys in the community,while heaping praise on their mentor and old pal.

That’s why Labour where beaten not because of some far off distant war or fucked up election system,they where beaten because they ignored the people who could have won it for them and kept faith with the old pals act. Now that has to be dissolved and Labour have to start again with no patronage and jobs for the boys. Turn to those however it may irritate you to do so and ask for help,help to build a community party,that address the needs of the individual as well as the party.

Is there the appetite for such an undertaking, who knowes,but one thing is certain,the holes in the roads and pavements won’t fix themselves, the developers need to be brought to heel, the idea that you can knock down peoples schools because the new community won’t send their kids to Granton,is bullshit,railroad an overly expensive not needed tram system where the Granton link was in real danger is not on.

Start again build the trust get the basics right,and possibly Labour might get back on track, it won’t with the old pals act.

Friends and readers. Many students,especially those who are poor,intuitively know what schools do for them. They school them to confuse process and substance. Once these become blurred, a new logic is assumed. The more treatment there is the better the results,or escalation leads to sucess. The pupil is thereby ”schooled to confuse teaching with learning,grade advancement with education,a diploma with competence,and fluency with the ability to say something new.

His/her imagination is “schooled” to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care,social work for the improvement of community life,police protection for safety,miltary poise for national security,the rat race for productive work.

Health,learning,dignity,independence and creative endeavor are defined as little more than the performance of the institutions which claim to serve these ends,and their improvement is made to depend on allocating more resources to the management of hospitals,schools and other agencies in question.

Equal educational opportunity is,indeed both a desirable and a feasible goal,but to equate this with obligatory schooling is to confuse salvation with the church. School has become the world religon of a modernized proletariat,and makes futile promises of salvation to the poor of the technological age. The nation state has adopted it,drafting all citizens into a graded curriculum leading to sequential  qualifications not unlike the initiation rituals and hieratic promotions of former times.

The modern state has assumed the duty enforcing the judgement of it’s educators through well-meant truant officers and job requirements,much as did the Spanish kings who enforced the judgements of their theologians through the conquistadors and the inquisition

Neither learning nor justice is promoted by schooling because educators insist on packaging instruction with certification. Learning and the assignment of social roles are melted into schooling. Yet to learn means to acquire a new skill or insight,while promotion depends on an opinion which others have formed. Learning frequently is the result of instruction,but selection for a role or category in the job market increasingly depends on mere length of attendance.

We have grown accustomed to children. We have decided that they should go to school,do as they are told and have neither income nor families of their own. We expect them to know their place and behave like children. We remember,whether nostalgically or bitterly,a time when we were children too.

Childhood as distinct from infancy,adolescence or youth was unknown to most historical periods. Some Christian centuries did not even have an eye for it’s bodily proportions. Artists depicted the infant as a miniture adult seated on his mother’s arm. Children appeared in Europe along with the pocket watch and the Christian moneylenders of the Renaissance. Before our century neither the poor nor the rich knew of the children’s dress,children’s games or the childs immunity from the law.

Childhood belonged to the bourgeoisie. The worker’s child, the peasant’s child and the nobleman’s child all dressed the way their fathers dressed,played the way their fathers played and were hanged by the neck as were their fathers. After the discovery of “childhood”by the bourgeoisie all this changed. Only some churches continued to respect for some time the dignity and maturity of the young. Until the Second Vatican Council,each child was instructed that a Christain reaches moral discernment and freedom at the age of seven,and from then on is capable of committing sins for which he may be punished by an eternity in hell. Towards the middle of the century,middle class parents began to try and spare their children the impact of this doctrine,and their thinking about children now prevails in the practice of ther church.

Until the last century children of middle class parents were made at home with the help of preceptors and private schools. Only with the advent of industrial society did the mass production of childhood become feasible and come within the reach of the masses.

The school system is a modern phenomenon as is the childhood it produces.

Friends and readers Pilton Sucks has been in discussions with another party with a view to bringing out a magazine format of the site. The discussions are at an early stage but initial reaction is good. The basic outlines are an A4 size magazine printed and ready for sale either on a weekly or fortnightly basis. We have been approached by a Scottish based marketing firm who feel that our product has merit and offers readers a different view of what is going on.

We will give this some thought over the next week or two and look at the pros and cons of the matter. It seems our campaign on the issue of workplace bullying and the effects it has on the victims has caught the imagination and interest of a number of people based in the printing industry. We are in the main a local based pressure group run and operated by a number of people,and their views on this have to be taken into consideration.

We have a meeting set up for next week and a couple of our associates are meeting with a publishing firm to have a look at whats what. In the meantime we welcome comments on what ever subject floats your boat or sinks it.

Congratulations to the successful candidates in the Forth Ward. They have a big job on their hands to bring this community together. Once the dust has settled and the questions asked into why this or that failed,the real job begins. If they are smart they will hit the ground running and try to heal divisions,the first one to do this will build the good will neccessary to bring the community with them.

What ever went on before must now come to an end. Parts of the Forth Ward have serious social problems and must as a priority be tackled. Everybody can play a part from Community Councils through the various community groups and organisations,the churches have a vital role to play in galvanising belief in fair play and spritual constiousness. Where members of this community are being badly treated are or have suffered,the process of healing must begin. We must take on trust that those elected to office have an understanding of this and any past differences must be left in the past,and a renewed sense of vigor and desire to really make a difference come shining through.

it is highly unlikely that whatever bad blood may have existed can be instantly washed away,but that is what a process of healing is all about. There is to big a job to be done to allow petty differences to get in the way,and we all share the responsibilty of making sure that the real issues are dealt with and not be held back by childish arguments. Human suffering whether of a physical or social nature needs all of our attention,and Pilton Sucks will do it’s bit.

A winning candidate has already been in touch by speaking to one of our asscociates saying exactly that and we applaud this sentiment. We hope this feeling is shared by all the winners and losers,if it is then the big job of making this community a good place to live and work in has already begun. 

G. Craig-PiltonSucks.com     

What went wrong for the Labour Party both locally and nationally,that caused people to desert them in their thousands and place their fates in the hands of the unknown. The root cause lies in the fact that the party turned away from it’s core beliefs and handed down meaningless platitudes to the voter at large.

The parties inability to engage with the communities they wished to represent showed up a major flaw in policy and idea creation. Memebership of the party has nosedived and now they are drifting without any real understanding of why. Once the blame game has settled down and reality bites,Labour is left bloodied and wounded by it’s own stupid arrogance that they and only they where the rightful party of Government.

A complete overhaul of the party structure is now required with the party becoming far less worked from the centre,and the policy making coming from the people they wish to represent again. Watching the First Minister as he tried to sell the message,was like watching his mouth move but the words coming from someone else. There is now time to try and get it right. Setting up community political forums where citizens from whatever political leaning can put forward their views and opinions,and where ultimately policy will come from.

To leave it in the hands of the few is hugely mistaken and results in few ideas and inward looking mentality. Local Labour parties should open their doors and actively encourage people to come in and offer their ideas,building policy with a real meaning to those who are on the receiving end. A new and continuous method of campaigning must be brought in with the communities leading the campaiging,and not the chosen few and or the old pals act.

Across the communities of Scotland there are many good people whose ideas are never heard,simply because they are not part of the club. Ex party menbers who have left the party should be asked why not classed as traitors or renegades,but asked to have an input to rejuvenate a tired party,a party that once showed great promise but retreated into itself and listened to only those who had the loudest voices.

Labour must become the community party,a party and organisation that welcomes all and really wants to engage with the people,and formulate policy round real peoples ideas not,faceless policy advisors or the spin doctor rubbish that has so obviously failed.

Communities can revitilise Labour,can give the party a clean and fresh image and remove the taint of secrecy and policy on the hoof. Local party memebership don’t have all the answers,in fact probably very few,local parties must hand out the olive branch to as many as possible and make the church even broader than it is said to be.

Let’s start with a blank sheet and begin to write down ideas with nothing and nobody excempt. The process of selection of candidates must be changed. Allow the communities to have a say,encourage them to put forward people they think are capable of such responsibility,and start now. Candidates can be in place for the next Scottish elections as soon as the end of the year,and this allows time to bed in and the communities to be comfortable with the people who are chosen.

Labour has polarised it’s support. The most glaring error was to put up two Labour candidates in one ward,instantly splitting the vote,where one candidate may be popular in some parts of the wards but not in others. The results tell a story. That can never happen again,or many communities will be Labour free zones. The terms of office must be seriously looked at. Terms of office should be limited to two terms for both local and national candidates.allowing fresh blood to come through. Candidates who have sucessfully served two terms would stand aside automatically without argument and sucessors step in. This removes those who feel they have a natural right to rule.

Majorities of a land slide nature are a thing of the past and the next test will be the general election. Many of the sitting candidates will be selected again offering policies made up somewhere else hoping that the people won’t vote for the Torries and put Cameron in Office. Hope is not enough,what Cameron is trying to do with little conviction is take the Torries to communities not the other way round. If he is successful the Torries could win.

The Labour party is in transition,with Brown seemingly poised to move next door to number ten. But why? any election is just a con, dosen’t the party realise the voters see this and the opposition will make hay with it. This is exactly what is wrong with Labour,inward frightened of change  and suck up to Brown just in case you might be de-selected.

The idea of the Labour Party being the peoples party is long since evaporated and is now a centralised Stalinised type of party. Not Stalinised in the sense of the politics but in the way it governs itself. Peoples ideas and aspirations have changed as society has changed. Cameron has realised this and will run with it as long as he can get away with it. Labour is firmly rooted to what they thought was the tried and trusted methods of operating,and have now paid the price.

Brown should not be the natural successor,why should he be? Many in the party are not happy but will go along with it just to avoid rocking the boat. The New Labour dream has ended,it must now evolve into a party of the communities,a mass movement designed to re-ignite hearts and minds. Even here in the Forth ward there is mass differences in what people aspire to. The SNP showed this up stood one candidate and won the seat easily,getting first spot with over 50% of the vote. What happened to Labour stood two candidates polarised the vote and where lucky to get one candidate re-elected. 

Where was the community input,where where the ideas that would excite people and encourage them to come out and vote Labour. Putting leaflets through doors listing achievments that many obviously seen as make believe was and is no longer good enough.

Had there been constant campaigning engageing with the community, doing away with failed methods of trying to capture votes,bringing on board as many people as possible may well have seen a different result. Possibly the two long serving Labour Candidates should have stepped aside and acted as valuable advisors to new people who did not have quite so much baggage.

Communities are now far more sophisticated in their choice of who represents them,and Labour must grab that mantel as well. Throw open the doors and welcome all. Start with a community review,with an end product. Make sure the community is kept up to date with what is going on around them. It these and other ideas are not acted on and Labour stays as an old boy/girl network where friendship is based on patronage. then it is possible very possible that Labour could in time become a fringe party,left to bemoan what might have been,or what should have been.

 J. Donald-Pilton Sucks.com

Saturday Morning,and we wake up to find that Edinurgh managed to finish their count [last as usual] and we have a nation divided. President in waiting Salmond will now have to scratch his head and begin to see what behind closed doors deals he can do to grab the keys to Bute House.

Labour did not get the thrashing that was predicted and they can thank their friends in the media for that. Our leftie friends got ousted and in some ways it’s a shame as less voices of objection will be heard,but the SSP have only got themselves to blame,and it remains to be seen whether they will return or just fade away.

The hangovers for the defeated candidates and the punters whose votes where not counted will remain for a wee while then it’s business as usual. For those with their noses returned to the trough,the sweet taste of victory and the dosh that goes with it may well ease any thoughts of rule,and just be happy and content to do and say nothing just blame the other side. It’s a win win situation for the lazy sods,who have now got the best excuse ever,one that they can put in an cooked up deal,and use as a cop out,yes friends It’s nowght to do with me,enshrined in the entrances of both Holy Rood and the City Chambers.

The biggest losers on the night are the people who struggle to survive in our run down council estates,those that didn’t bother to vote because they are to busy struggling to live in conditions that are more 19th century than 21st. What happens to them.more decay and false dawns,no doubt.

But of course we could be wrong and our parliament and councils will work their fingers to the bone,or the ones’s who don’t have two or three jobs anyway,to improve living standards for the worst off. As the deals get cobbled together it won’t be about those that need help it will be about helping themselves to more of the public cash. Who will be leader,who will be provest,who will chair this or that committee,who can squeeze a few extra quid on top of whatever else they get.

Once all these very important issues are sorted out,then and only possibly then will the punters get what’s left,and even then they will have to fight tooth and nail to get it. Such is the game of politics-Me- Myself-I,and then the rest. The public need to see their elected members are not out to line their own pockets as is the perception of many,but really want to make a difference.

Let us start with a clean slate,and see what happens. 

For those who bothered to sit up to watch the unfolding farce that was the Scottish Elections on Telly would have watched in amazement as democracy got a kick in the teeth. You expect it from Edinburgh as it has led the way in balls up elections and mega late declarations.

But even Edinburgh’s gift of cock up elections paled into insignificance as this electronic voting managed to out cock up even the capital city. For those who made the trip to Ingliston to be bored shitless you have our sympathy’s. For the candidates it must have been even more frustrating and even the most patient would have been tested to the limit by this shambles. Over 100,000 ballot papers have been called invalid,brings back memories of the George Bush fiasco.

For those have been or are to be victorious congratulations, but great shame falls on this system and those who now have not had their vote counted,they are voiceless,so great responsibilty fall on those who have been elected both locally and nationally,to make sure that they govern for everybody and try and put this shambles behind us.

We as a nation need a full investigation,an investigation with teeth and an outcome to insure this farce never happens again. Good luck to all those elected and pray they do a good job.    

Edinburgh North and Leith has for a long time been a Labour stronghold but Malcolm Chisholm has managed to reduce the Labour majority down to what is now a marginal seat.

Mr. Chisholm is in real danger of losing this seat and no wonder as his aloof attitude puts people right off. Mr Chisholm had a great opportunity to make things happen in this community but he failed miserably and may well pay the penalty. Mr. Chisholm who is well known for resigning at the drop of a hat,might not need to do so this time,the voters might just do that job for him.