COUNCILLORS’ MAIL CENSORED CLAIM

Arthur Gemmell with his rejected booklets

Arthur Gemmell believes Councillors at Glasgow City Council are having their mail and ingoing phone calls censored on the instruction of the Council’s Executive. He has taken legal action against the Executive and been granted an interdict to have the issue raised in court.

In a long running battle with Glasgow City Council, one strategy he used recently to inform Councillors of his position was to deliver 80 booklets outlining his claims so that each Councillor could read the details for themselves.

Victorious students leave sit-in

Business man fights on

Arthur's building is festooned with flags and posters.

A city business man, in a long-running dispute with Glasgow City Council over property, has taken direct action to highlight his case. Arthur Gemmell has festooned his building with notices claiming corruption.

And recently he left a  copy of his record of the circumstances in the City Chambers for each Councillor.

Over years of disappearing court documents, he alleges that his city centre property has been earmarked for demolition because an adjacent hotel building has been allocated his site for their car park.

‘This is my property and I can’t use it because the building of the hotel has damaged it,’ he told this website.

One aspect of his claim was to have been heard at Glasgow Sheriff Court at 10am one day this summer. Called for 10am, the case was not heard till just before lunchtime when a court room became available. Only minutes into the hearing, the Sheriff discovered a discrepancy in some of the court documents and the case was put back till October.

This was the umpteenth delay since 2006 and Arthur is taking a complaint to a higher court.

‘There was a lot of confusion in court,’ said Arthur afterwards.

But he is determined to continue till he receives justice.

Audience for the Worlds ‘blown away’ by the event.

On top of the World, Field Marshal Montgomery band led by Drum Major Alicia Dickson leave for home with the top title.

The organisers of the World Pipe Band Championships for 2011 are to be congratulated. They made a lot of people very happy on Saturday 13 August when around 8000 pipers and drummers in 230 bands entered into fierce competition. The spectacle was enjoyed by an estimated 30,000 onlookers. Despite monsoon rains for days beforehand, the Glasgow Green was well prepared to take the crowds without too much mud underfoot.

Said one international visitor: ‘This has been an amazing day. I have never seen pipe bands before. It has been very exciting.’

Graded into different levels of ability, the band  Grade 1 winners were Field Marshal Montgomery from Lisburn, Northern Ireland, making them top band in the world and leaving them feeling on top of the world.

Said Lisburn Mayor, Councillor Brian Heading: ‘I am delighted that this world famous band has once again brought this supreme title back to Lisburn. With 21 Ulster and 19 All Ireland Championships and now 7 World Champion titles, they are officially the most successful pipe band in history.

‘Quite simply, they are in a league of their own. To perform and compete at this level takes countless hours of practice. Their success is richly deserved.’

The Band’s Drum Major, Alicia Dickson also won the adult Drum Major event.

Interviewed by Jackie Bird for the BBC live coverage that went world-wide, the band’s Pipe Major, Richard Parkes MBE said: ‘We had a strong band on the day and I couldn’t have asked for more. We really wanted to win and everyone has worked hard all winter.’

Second place went to Simon Fraser University of Canada and Scottish Power was third. Fourth place in Grade 1 went to Inveraray & District. Fifth place went to St Laurence O’Toole from Eire and sixth place went to Boghall & Bathgate.

Glasgow Lord Provost, Councillor Bob Winter, was Chieftain of the Games, for possibly his last time as there are council elections next May. He said: ‘Nothing brings Glasgow Green to life like the World Pipe Band Championships. We all appreciate the dedication, mastery and team work required to play to the highest standards to be in the Worlds. The city is very proud to continue to be host at least till 2012.’

The event brings an estimated £10 million into the local economy.

Apart from the pipe bands and the associated competitions for pipe majors and for drummers and pipers, there were Highland Games which attract heavy weight athletes ‘putting the shot’ and ‘tossing the caber”. Highland dancing competitions fielded competitors from the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as Scotland.

The day ended with all the pipe bands in a march past to salute the Chieftain and his VIP guests.

Planning for next year’s competition is already under way by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, Glasgow Life, Glasgow City Council, EventsScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.

President of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, George Ussher (left) with Glasgow Lord Provost, Bob Winter who was Chieftain for the day (right) and guest touring the 'Worlds' events on Glasgow Green.

The strongmen of the circuit came from around the world.At every grade, bands were happy to take home the hard won trophies.

Door Open coming soon

Look out for the Doors Open brochure cover

Doors Open Day  will soon be here. The festival which enables a multitude of organisations to open their premises to the public on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September now has its 2011 brochure being distributed. Find your free copy in libraries and other public spots. Highlights include storytelling at Partick Curling Clubhouse and Castlemilk Stables; a Children’s Passport Competition; Red Road Flats before they are demolished, 22 Heritage Trail walks by Land and Environmental Services; and dozens of other exciting talks, events and places to enjoy. See their website: www.glasgowdoorsopenday.com for up-to-date information.

FORD’S SAFETY CHALLENGE TO DRIVERS

Stephen Odell, chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe, receives the top award for Ford's 5 star safety features from President, Dr. Andre Seeck, Euro NCAP - the independent safety assessment organisation.

by Grace Franklin

Ford challenged me this week. As a car driver aiming for an the advanced driver’s qualification, I had to admit the 100 year old company scared me.

My reversing skills are now redundant thanks to their Active Park Assist. The 10 ultrasonic sensors first find a space big enough for the vehicle to park in safely, then the driver has to take their hands off the steering wheel, have complete faith in the computer and simply control the accelerator and the brake. Not easy to do.

Another safety device Ford has developed is their Active City Stop. This is to help reduce low speed collisions by automatically braking when the system detects a stationary vehicle in front. While the test circuit at Hampden Park was an ideal place to try it out with plenty of space to drive straight at a foam block designed to look like the back of a car, I couldn’t let the car do this emergency stop itself. I had to slam the brakes on each of the four times I attempted the manoeuvre. This stalled the engine, of course.

Scary in a very different way, was the inflatable rear seat safety belt which gives much wider body protection to the passenger in a collision.

Trying that out – the noise of the sudden inflation of the belt was momentarily, startling. But the benefit of that was instant and understandable.

The benefit of the Active Park Assist in the new Focus, C-MAX and Grand C-Max models will, no doubt, be considerable to those who don’t want to learn how to do it themselves. As for the hands off part of it – it just makes me worry that there will be more time for the driver to study sat nav, wayside ad boards or any other distraction and maybe send a text or two while the car takes over the driver’s brain for a minute or two.

EXCLUSIVE Halle Berry comes to town

These Zombies cleverly hid their features before filming WWZ which will bring in £2m to Glasgow.

by EVELYN MCKECHNIE

Halle Berry is due to film in Glasgow soon.

After Brad Pitt, Glasgow will have a visit from super star, Halle Berry, She will be in town in the next two weeks and filming at the Necropolis among other locations. The film she’s making is the Tom Hanks’ movie, ‘Cloud Atlas.’
While most of it will be shot in Germany, some of the scenes will be located in and around Glasgow.

Hiroshima exhibition produces peace cranes

Origami cranes made by Isabel and some of the Gareloch Horticulturalists.

Simply folding paper to make a pretty bird shape, is a gentle therapy that has been enjoyed in the Mitchell Library every weekday lunchtime during August. But the Japanese art form, called origami, is the perfect introduction to the story of Hiroshima and the aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped there on August 1945.

A clear poster board exhibition tells the story of Sadako, a girl who was two when the bomb was dropped on her city. She was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 11 and died a year later another victim of the atrocity.

Sadako folded paper cranes in her final days and knew the ancient Japanese legend that a wish will come true if a person folds 1000 paper cranes. First, her classmates, and then the wider world raised a monument to peace in her honour and to recognise all the children who died in Hiroshima. Today, the Children’s Peace monument in Hiroshima attracts 10 million paper cranes made by people around the world as they remember the horror of that holocaust and plead for peace. Some of them will come from the Glasgow Origami sessions in the Mitchell Library.

The Gareloch Horticulturalists – a women’s Peace Group – were some of the many people who learned on the wing and folded some origami cranes. Their instructor was Yushin Toda, who patiently showed what to do.

Recently honoured by his country for the work he and his wife Fumi Nakabachi have done in Scotland to promote the culture of Japan, he was visited by Mr Masataka Tarahara the Consul General of Japan in Edinburgh who viewed the exhibition.

Said Yushin: ‘ It is not the number of people who have visited that is important. It is the fact that people have met together to see the exhibition and make the paper cranes and think about the issues, that matters. People from all over the world have visited the exhibition. One man from Australia, whose mother is an Origami artist, was able to fold cranes without hesitation.’

A business development manager, Yushin was particularly appreciative that someone left a facsimile edition of the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch newspaper dated 8 August 1945 describing Hiroshima as ‘a disastrous ruin’ and how ‘all living things have been seared to death.’

More than 300,000 people were literally burned to a cinder in the seconds of the atomic blast. And over the years, as with little Sadako, many thousands of others suffered from the after effects.

In a book left for visitors at the exhibition to record their reactions, one person wrote:

‘How shaming it is that now we know all the horrific effects of nuclear weapons use, we still have Trident, the British nuclear weapon at Faslane Naval base near Glasgow. It is illegal under international law, as well as being unethical. The majority of Scottish people do not want it on our soil or anywhere else.’

Some people placed candle lanterns on the water at Faslane on 6 August this year to mark Hiroshima Day.

The exhibition, organised by Japan Desk Scotland,  ran at the North Door exhibition hall of the Mitchell Library till the end of August. It was supported financially by Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

Japan Desk Scotland will set up a ‘Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Photo Exhibition’ at Glasgow University Chapel from Tuesday 1 November 2011 till 31 January 2012.

More attention to Gambia human rights abuses

Alieu B. Ceesay a Gambian exiled journalist who participated in the London meeting.

Gambia was the subject of a round table discussion at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office this week. Instigated by Labour MP Anas Sarwar at the request of the Glasgow based Campaign for Human Rights in the Gambia, it saw journalists, campaigners, civil servants and politicians share knowledge of the current state of life in that sunny, West African country.

Among the concerns voiced were the lack of independence in the judiciary, the disappearance of working journalist Ebrima Manneh in 2006, the murder of newspaper publisher Deyda Hydara in 2004, the blocking of some websites critical to the present regime and the scewered dissemination of information.

The major issue of the election in November was also raised. Opinions expressed included: – registration of voters was a farce. Opposition parties were hobbled by rules which permit them to promote their cause only ten days before the election date. Concern was expressed that Femi Peters, campaign manager for the United Democratic Party (UDP), an opposition party to President Jammeh,  was recently  sentenced to one year hard labour for holding a public rally without permission; and that Kanyiba Kanyia, a supporter of the UDP disappeared in 2006.

It was acknowledged that President Jammeh was likely to win the election which would reinforce his position since his coup in 1994.

Said one participant: ‘There are no quick fixes.’

But through the European Union, pressure is being brought to bear on the Gambian Government to adhere to international laws on human rights and freedom of speech that the country has signed up to.

In Glasgow, Gambian exiled journalist, Alieu B. Ceesay, told this website: ‘This was a very successful meeting. It gave the Campaign for Human Rights in the Gambia and other organisations, a forum to engage with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about the situation in The Gambia. We hope to build on that momentum to continue to engage with the international community to prioritise the Gambia situation. More must be done urgently to address the wave of terror that has swept that country in the last 16 years.’

The Campaign recently held a rally in Glasgow City Centre to mark Freedom Day in the Gambia. Among the speakers was Labour MP Anas Sarwar for Glasgow Central who initiated meetings with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Patrick Harvie, Green Party MSP in Glasgow who has gained cross party support in the Scottish Parliament for human rights in the Gambia; Kate Temple of Amnesty International  whose organisation has published an update to their report on ‘Climate of Fear’ in the Gambia which details enforced disappearances, killings and torture of journalists, politicians and anyone who displeases the regime; and Austin Sheridan an elected Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament who said his Party, SNP,  had united with the others on the human rights issue in the Gambia and would fight ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with people there.  The Campaign is also strongly supported by the National Union of Journalists which is working through the STUC and the TUC  to encourage other unions to do the same.

A video of the rally can be seen and heard on:

Call to rescue the Riverman

Glasgow Humane Society officers George Parsonage and Tony Coia with some of the Society's volunteer lifeguards at the launch of the Riverman Appeal.

The life-saving charity – The Glasgow Humane Society – has launched a £100,000 appeal on its 221st birthday. It needs a new patrol boat and support vehicle as well as equipment to help save the lives of people they rescue from the River Clyde.

Launching the appeal on Tuesday 16 August, Glasgow’s Lord Provost Bob Winter said:’The Glasgow Humane Society is an important and well-loved society to which thousands owe their lives. We owe a big debt of gratitude to their officers and the volunteer lifeguards who patrol the River Clyde and our city’s waterways seven days a week to make them safer for us all.

In the last ten years the Society has saved 201 people and prevented 611 from drowning. So it is with a great sense of pride and purpose that we launch the Riverman Appeal. I hope the people of Glasgow and the business community will respond generously to raise the £100,000 to replace and upgrade the Society’s life-saving equipment.’

Supporting the Lord Provost at the launch was actress Blythe Duff of STV’s Taggart and actor Tom Urie of BBC’s River City drama. Both programmes feature the city and the River.

Donations to the Riverman Appeal can be made by text to 70070 quoting RIVE16 and the amount you wish to donate (for example RIVE16£5) or by paypal through the charity’s website www.glasgowhumanesociety.com or by cheque or postal order to the Glasgow Humane Society, Glasgow Green, Glasgow G40 1BA

Society Chairman John Park said: ‘This is our first-ever appeal to raise money. The Society still has a big role to play in making the city’s river and waterways safer and in preventing water accidents. We are an ever-present, voluntary resource to the statutory emergency services and always on hand for the hundreds of sports and boat users on the Clyde each week and the many thousands who use the waterway walkways.’

Set up in 1790 with a £200 legacy from local merchant James Coulter the aim was ‘prevention of accidents, rescue and recovery’ of people on the waterways. Drownings in the Clyde were much more common than today.

Affectionately known as “the Riverman” the Society’s officers and volunteer lifeguards have saved thousands of lives.

Since 1889 it has had only three senior officers – George Geddes 2nd (1889 – 1932) Benjamin Parsonage (1928 – 1979) and his son George Parsonage (1979 – till present day). They have passed down their knowledge of the Clyde and the city’s waterways.

Benjamin Parsonage and the Society is highlighted in a special display on the ground floor of the newly opened Riverside Museum. It features “The Bennie”, a river rescue rowing boat designed by Benjamin that will not capsize when rescuing or recovering someone from the water.

George Parsonage, the current Society officer, started at 14 years of age saving lives on the Clyde with father Benjamin. He has saved over 1500 people and recovered over 500 bodies. His rescue work on the Clyde and other waterways has been nationally and internationally recognised.

He is assisted by Antony Coia, who has been in post for five years, and a team of more than 30 volunteer lifeguards.

Apart from rescuing people and recovering bodies the Society personnel also help when floods strike. They have used their knowledge and experience in floods in the city’s East End and in Bearsden and Paisley’s Ferguslie Park.

A registered charity, the Society works closely with all the statutory agencies and local authorities

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