INDEPENDENTS VS SNP

FULL COUNCIL MEETINGS

This week the Council has two Full Council meetings, the ordinary meeting which has not long finished, and the budget meeting scheduled for Friday. Watch this space for an update on the budget meeting tomorrow but for this post I will concentrate on this morning's meeting.

On the item regarding the formation of the Independent Group on the Council, two ex SNP Councillor's one of whom is currently suspended by the Standards Commission, the proposal was to have the group allocated two boards, the Regulatory Functions board (of which Cllr Martin was a member) and the Scrutiny Board.

Cllr Martin took exception to being offered these boards and suggested no one really wanted to go on them, it has been widely acknowledge that the SNP went in a huff when they didn't get the Deputy Convener post for the Scrutiny board and as such didn't bother turning up to any of the meetings (although it doesn't stop them trying to amend the reports when they come to the Full Council), Cllr's Vassie and Martin were never on this board but it seems don't want to be either. As for the Regulatory Functions Board Cllr Martin was on this board although his attendance was around 22% until late last year the SNP replaced him with Cllr McGuiness. Despite Cllr Martin's protestations that both Cllr Vasie and he had excellent attendance records the reality is very different.

Cllr Martin pretty much agreed with the SNP on most things this morning, no great surprise there then, but what was interesting was the 'lovers spat' between the Independents and the SNP, he went as far as suggesting that the SNP were out to get rid of him before he jumped allegations about his attendance being doctored were abound! More to follow no doubt!

BLOGGING BULLIES

BULLYING

I write this post in the knowledge that I will be slammed by some for it! Big Brother has finished and the evident bullying that took place is now the topic of many conversations from the train to the broadsheet pages and the radio. However there is a wider theme here, not bullying in the Big Brother House, but online!

There are those that simply slag off others for their own gratification, there are those who send anonymous mail both snail and email of a most vile nature, there are those who think calling you names is OK behaviour! To those people and I believe you know who you are, I pose this challenge, try (just for a change) creating an argument on the issues, try putting your point across in a logical and respectful manner (that means no swearing). If you do this, I may not agree with you but I will respect your beliefs until you do, you are no better than the school yard bully.

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

EXCELLENT

Last night I was fortunate enough to be invited to go see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with my sister in Edinburgh, and it was excellent. I was interested to see how they were going to do a lot of it including the flying car! I was not disappointed, the car flew and you could not tell how it was done! The principles included Joe McFadden, was not sure how this would go as I had never heard him sing before, but he is actually very good, the kids were great but, nothing compares to the car!

There are still tickets available, the only negative comment that I would make is that the tickets are VERY expensive and as we were in the balcony we were quite far away from the stage and the seat were very small and had practically no leg room!

FREE PERSONAL CARE


I noticed in the Herald this afternoon that Henry McLeish has suggested that Free Personal Care is well funded. He suggested allegedly that the Scottish Executive funding given to 'some' council's has been redirected to other services. Just in case anyone in Renfrewshire thinks that this is the case in our Local Authority I had to put a wee note on here to advise that it is not!

Sometime ago this was discussed at the Full Council meeting, the Liberal Democrat Leader Eileen appeared to suggest this also and I pointed out that this was not the case, so just in case it comes up AGAIN! Also interesting to note the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee work done on this issue as well, maybe someone could forward it to Mr McLeish.

JUDGES REVOLTING

AND I MEAN DISGUSTING

At a Labour Party meeting tonight this story came up, you know where the Judges are letting 'dangerous' criminals go because of the 'advice' from John Reid MP the Home Secretary. I should point out here that I am NO fan of John Reid's, however, this is absolute rubbish!

Does anyone seriously buy that a Judge (separate from the influence of Government) would be influenced by a letter from the Home Secretary saying that the Judicial system should only send someone to jail if it is necessary, if they are a danger to their community? Obviously not if the news reports of a known Paedophile being released with a high incident of re offending are correct. I think the point that many of the news papers are printing tomorrow is correct it is an establishment revolt, maybe not in the way they will print it though!

The very reason the jails are overcrowded is the Judiciary unwillingness to use community disposals, where they are appropriate. Maybe the problem is that many judges don't know where they are appropriate, maybe it is that as they have never seen these disposals or researched them they are not aware of their success rate? For what ever reason they have decided to let what they determine 'dangerous' criminals back into society, this is a dereliction of their duty and they should be taken to task, even charged under some archaic law if necessary. The Home Secretary's guidance is a reminder that other disposals exist and that at present they are under utilised.

WILLIAMSBURGH HOUSING ASSOCIATION

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING

OK yesterday was a LONG one again, the day started with the constituency business and checking the update on the fire in Dunn Street, I must say at this point that Williamsburgh Housing Association have been excellent, their response times were excellent and the work product was still on the walls last night at the meeting. I can assure the residents that Williamsburgh Housing Association are working hard to make sure that the property is back to it's original standard as soon as possible.

Also on the agenda yesterday was reading the papers for last nights meeting, today's meetings and doing preparation for Friday's meetings. I finally left the office at about 6pm to go to the Management Committee meeting. The meeting was constructive and interesting, a light agenda we were told, the meeting eventually closed at about 10pm. On the agenda were a number of reports including one on the wider action strategy of the Association and I was delighted that the management committee unanimously accepted this report as it mentioned the £4 M upgrade to the Lagoon Leisure centre which is now underway!

A long day, but it was interesting, present at the meeting were some new members of the management committee, great to see new people getting involved and using their voice, all ages welcome!

THE LABOUR EFFECT

NEAR FULL EMPLOYMENT


Interestingly enough Scottish Television tonight ran an article tonight confirming that the UK has 'near full employment' their words not mine! The SNP will be livid given that their assertion has always been that this is not the case, and given that they helped Thatcher destroy the Scottish Economy in the first place.


A while ago I was taken to task by some right wing bloggers over my claim that Scotland was closing in on Full Employment no doubt they will be complaining to OFCOM about tonight's news?


Yet another Labour Gain, from unemployment in Scotland at 16%, to unemployment under 4% TODAY!!


That is the difference between the SNP, the Tories and the Labour Party? We have a proven track record of growing and developing the Scottish Economy, a proven record of developing the Scottish workforce, a proven record of being positive and for the people of Scotland.

http://www.scotlandoffice.gov.uk/our-communications/release.php?id=3566

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

DUNN STREET FIRE

I have received reports that there was a fire in Dunn Street last night, the Fire Service were called and ten people had to be evacuated. I have spoken to Williamsburgh Housing Association and it seems that the residents were taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley for smoke inhalation, at this point I have had no reported serious injuries.

I would like to thank Williamsburgh Housing Association for their swift response for the tenants and their ongoing efforts to support the tenants.

I also wanted to take some time to thank Strathclyde Fire Brigade for their work in this fire, time and time again they put their lives on the line for others and they have been comended by the Housing Association at the meeting last night and I wanted to personally thank them as well.

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

PAISLEY NORTH EAST & RALSTON

For the benefit of my constituents I thought it would be a good idea to explain the changes to the Seedhill ward under the new electoral system for May this year.

The Seedhill ward will now make up part of the new Paisley North East & Ralston Ward, this takes in Hawkhead, Whitehaugh, Ralston and a section of Paisley Central. This ward is a four member ward, which means that the electorate will be selecting four Councillors.

When the elections come round next year you will be able to vote for as many candidates as you like, I would obviously say vote for the Labour candidates first but then you would expect that wouldn't you! You get to rank the candidates in the order of preference but they have to be in order, say for instance you vote from 1 to 4 then leave out 5 and go onto preference 6, the votes from 1 to 4 will be counted and the rest disgarded. If you mark one name with a cross it will be accepted that you are only voting for this candidate.

As I suggested in an earlier post anyone with questions should contact either their local Councillor, the Local Authority or visit the Vote Scotland website which has a good explanation of the system.

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

RENFREW HEALTH CENTRE

As reported here Health Minister Andy Kerr visited Paisley yesterday and announced that the Scottish Executive have given the go ahead to the new Renfrew Health Centre, as coverage on the BBC website suggests it will bring together the Health Services and Social Work services.

Mr Kerr said: "The centre will provide faster and more comprehensive services in modern facilities. This will be of enormous benefit to the community."

Also present at the visit was Cllr Tommy Williams Chair of the Community Health Partnership for Renfrewshire and Local MSP Wendy Alexander both have welcomed the decision as another Labour commitment delivered. This has taken a lot longer than we would have liked but, that does not take away from the achievement of everyone involved and the hard work that has been invested in this project.

SADDAM HUSSEIN

COUNCILLOR TERRY KELLY

I try not to write about the same thing as my dad, keeping in mind that a lot of the people who read this blog also read my dad's, but, this time I couldn't leave it alone! On Saturday the Paisley Daily Express published an article about my dad, apparently slamming him for his comments on the hanging of Saddam Hussein, well they can slam me too because I agree with him!

It will come as no surprise to anyone I am sure but, I am against the death penalty, telling people that if they kill/rape/steal/think for themselves the state will kill them achieves nothing, you only have to look at the USA for evidence. In the states that use the death penalty are there no murders? No, are there no rapes? No! Capital punishment in all it's forms is barbaric and cruel, it makes the state the murderer and as such it makes every citizen no better than the person they seek to punish. I do not say this lightly I have relatives in America and I am aware of some of feelings of the American electorate to the death penalty but this does not make it right.

My dad was right to condemn the execution of Saddam Hussein and his colleagues recently executed, all of the main political players in Scottish politics have voiced similar opinions - including Blair and Brown for the Labour Party and Salmond of the SNP - so clearly the difficult questions are for Cllr McKay the leader of the SNP group on Renfrewshire Council who condemned the comments by my father , is he, like his predecessor Mr McFee, distancing himself from his leader? Is this a split in the SNP? you decide!

24 SERIES 6

FANTASTIC

The only other series that I have been this excited about was the last series of the West Wing, this evening 24 series 6 started and I am so excited that I had to stop myself cheating by reading the synopsis of the upcoming episodes on the 24 website.

At the beginning/end of the advert break there was a small promo type of advert with a web address and a password, me being my inquisitive self decided to check it out and it is a excellent system. It is like online gaming to go with the programme! They have set up websites you have to access and you get a call on your mobile from someone who sounds like the guy from Mission Impossible. On a separate note it is a little like the full gaming experience using all media, something quite a few people have been waiting on. Check it out for yourself, if you have time!

I must say though how much bad luck can one man have?

EAST END ATHLETICS BOYS CLUB

WINNERS

Well while trawling the net this evening to find the Paisley and District Football League webpage I found the webpage of my local football team, I have supported them through grants in the past and I am absolutely delighted that the website tells us that they are 20 years old this year!

One of the first groups to contact me as a Councillor was the East End Athletics Boys Club, they came to me because of problems with the booking of playing fields, I can only hope that I was helpful in this regard. I have supported the group and I was delighted to see the number of accolades that boys have won recently. I would urge of of you to check out their website! It is absolutely fabulous and the first link on their site is to the anti racism standupspeak.com website I would urge you to check that out as well.

WENDY VS WEE NICKY

SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY DEBATE

(photo from the Scotland on Sunday website by Bill Hendry)

If you click on the title above you will see the article in the Scotland on Sunday regarding the debate taking place this evening on Independence. As you have no doubt guessed the debate features Wendy Alexander MSP and wee Nicky Sturgeon list MSP. I have no dubt in my mind who will win the debate (Wendy of course) as the Nationalist case for Independecne is so weak that it is based on Elaine C Smith's idea that River City is better than Panorama!

The debate on the Union -as covered here during the week- for Newsnight Scotland was an interesting and excellent debate, it showed up the case for Independence for what it actually is, a fight for power for the sake of it by narrow minded and power hungry politicians such as Ms Sturgeon, god only knows how many elections she has stood for under FPTP (First Past The Post).

I intend to 'interview' our local MSP's next week regarding the re-election campaign and the case for staying in the Union so stay tuned for more information.

COMMUNITY HEALTH PARTNERSHIP

RENFREW HEALTH CENTRE

The updated position on the Renfrew Health Centre was reported to the Community Health Partnership this afternoon and I am pleased to say that it was looking good. Obviously the final decision rests with the Scottish Executive but, with the Health Minister visiting next week I am hopeful that we will have the confirmation of it's continuing positive reinforcement from the Scottish Executive. This afternoon Cllr Tommy Williams the Chair of the Renfrewshire CHP thanked the hard work carried out by everyone involved in the project.

Despite the SNP claims that the Renfrew Health Centre was never going to built nd that it was a broken Labour Promise the plans are in place for it to go forward, this is a lesson to everyone in Renfrewshire, just cause Cllr McKay and his cronies say it, doesn't make it so! Do your own research ask questions, please don't just take his word for it, because more often than not it is wrong/inaccurate or deliberately misleading.

I am delighted that Renfrew Health Centre was a manifesto commitment at the last election and is yet another commitment fulfilled!

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

CHILDRENS PANEL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Yesterday was another long day, although it was really interesting, first their was the Labour Group meeting in the Council chamber and a full day of Constituent enquiries being chased up and letters written. At half six I attended the Children's Panel reappointment interviews, these are taken by the Children's Panel Advisory Committee members.

Just so it is clear the make up of the Children's Panel Advisory Committee (CPAC) is five members appointed by the Scottish Executive/ First Minister and two members appointed by the local authority, you have probably guessed that I am one of the local authority appointees. As there were an uneven number of interviewers, and I had been unable to attend the re appointment training I sat in on the interviews being undertaken last night, I must admit to being extremely impressed with all of the people interviewed, all of those seeking reappointment were interesting and had excellent answers, they had obviously gained a lot from their experience as well as giving a lot to the children they had seen.

I personally wanted to thank them and the CPAC members it was a long night but all of the interviews were done and we were home for 10pm, even managed to catch some of the snow!

The next meeting of the CPAC is tomorrow afternoon, and again I am looking forward to an interesting meeting.

CELEBRATING THE UNION

TOGETHER WE STAND

Personally I am celebrating the Union between Scotland and England it brings together the great nations and gives them each an equal say in how our countries move forward. With Scottish people determining the direction of policy in a whole range of issues from Health to Education, Social Work to Policing and the Economy, I believe the issue of independence is immaterial. It is an issue that the SNP/SSP/Solidarity and the other fringe parties think that the Scottish people are concerned with, we are not.

I don't think that the future for Scotland is trying to work through a complicated and unnecessary separation process, trying to work out whether the Scottish people want the type of independence put to them by any number of Nationalist groups, and the setting up of institutions and working out how to pay for them. I think that the way forward is to work within the system as it is at present, I really do believe that what the Scottish people want is better and safer communities, better education, health, policing, and a more open and tolerant society. There are pro's and con's to every arrangement but I believe the pro's outnumber the con's in this Union, and I believe that the only way to get the safer communities, better education, health and policing is to vote for the Labour Party in May.

A great deal has been done but still more to do, expectations continue to rise and our ambitions for our fellow countrymen with it.

So Celebrate the Union, get the £2 coin which is launched later today and think about the things that not only make you proud to be Scottish but British, the two are not contradictory despite what some might tell you.

TALKING UP SCOTLAND

POSITIVE MESSAGES

I don't normally trawl the nationalist blogs and websites but when researching something else this evening I found a highly entertaining story in which the SNP accused Labour of being negative about Scotland! What a laugh! Look at the video below for Labour's view of a positive Scotland.

I don't know about you all but the SNP locally in Renfrewshire are nothing but negative, their ex leader (disgraced) Cllr I Nicolson in 2003 accused the Chief Executive of the Council of improprieties in hiring and firing, they have lost two Cllr's recently one for verbally abusing Council staff and the other following his mate, well he did represent him at the Standards Commission and accuse his own leader (Cllr McKay) of conspiring with the Labour Party to get rid of ex SNP, now independent, disgraced Cllr Vassie.

Indeed as recently ago as November of 2006 the now leader of the SNP (for the time being anyway!) McKay advised the Council meeting that there is a nightly boxing match at County Square, and that the street art was graffiti!

I don't write the above to be negative but to show the hypocrisy in the SNP, Labour locally has talked up Renfrewshire for years, we have promoted it where ever we have went, even on holidays. Locally we are building new schools, new elderly care homes, a new respite unit and new sporting facilities to name but a few of the positive and long lasting things that Labour have achieved!

Remember this at the elections in May and vote for your Labour candidates!

NAME DROPPING

JAMES MCAVOY

When I was quite a bit younger I joined Paisley Youth Theatre (now PACE) one of the things it was great for was meeting new people, this is where the latest comes in. I never have name dropped for instance did you know that I sang with David Sneddon at the Millennium celebrations in Paisley. Oopps just ruined David's street cred, sorry David! Hope you are well!

To this end I am absolutely inspired that BAFTA have seen fit to nominate (again) an absolutely fantastic young actor (and fellow ex member of PACE) James McAvoy. Even as a younger actor he was inspirational, he made you want to come up to his level and I am DELIGHTED for him and his success!!

Congratulations James it is great to see you doing so well, I can honestly say that you deserve it!

PS Really need to say that it is totally weird to see fan sites and action figures of people you know (or rather knew!) seriously!!!

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN

In the news today you will no doubt have heard about the educational attainment of lack of for 'looked after children'. As the Looked After Children's champion for Renfrewshire Council, I thought that I should comment on this particular story. Local MSP and Education and Young Person's Minister Hugh Henry was in Paisley today and speaking about this problem, he noted that almost half of children who are in care leave school without ANY standard grades.

I thought however, that I would concentrate on the reasons, as someone who is related to a Guidance Teacher I hear a lot about the issue of education for children in the care system. Many times actually getting the child to attend school on a regular basis is an achievement and success, these children can have so much going on in their young lives that Education is the last thing on their mind. It is difficult for children taken from their area and moved across the Local Authority meaning a change in schools etc to keep themselves motivated, the chaotic lifestyle of some of the children in care means that Education takes a back seat to helping provide for younger siblings, or even keeping out of the road of an abusive parent, these children need extra help and attention and it is not only the teachers job, remember that the majority of children in care are there due to issues of care and protection.

I believe that we should 'shoot for the moon' and expect the highest standards from all of our schools and young people, but we should also acknowledge the achievements where they are. In Renfrewshire we do have a good record of education as shown through the recent HMIE reports, more to do and I agree with Cllr Eric Jackson the COSLA Social Work spokesperson that it does need to be a multi disciplinary approach and as the Scottish Executive document says 'it's everyone's job to make sure 'children' are OK'.

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

RENFREWSHIRE COMMUNITY HEALTH PARTNERSHIP

This afternoon I attended the second development session for the Community Health Partnership (CHP), today they covered the role of the Clinical Director Dr Liz Jordan, and Prescribing for the CHP.

Both sessions were great, the session covering prescriptions was extremely interesting, for instance I had no idea that only 8% of prescriptions in Scotland are paid for, that almost £2 Million is spent on Anti Depression medications in Renfrewshire. The presentation went through all of the issues involved in the prescriptions in Renfrewshire.

The next meeting of the Community Health Partnership is next Friday so I will update you again then.

FIRST MINISTERS QUESTIONS

PROTESTING TOO MUCH?

Jack McConnell in First Ministers questions this afternoon answered the questions from wee Nicola on Trident, his sentiments and statements echoed the article below!

Jack McConnell First Minister ...

'There is a world of difference between peaceful protest and supporting that protest, and politicians purposefully trying to get themselves arrested in order to get themselves publicity'

Duncan McNeil was also in the Daily Record asking Ms Sturgeon and those SSP MSP's involved to apologised to the Scottish Communities who have suffered due to their actions.

No doubt the SNP machine will be in motion suggesting that Labour do not support the right to protest at Faslane, which of course is nonsense I have no doubt that there are Labour members who have peacefully protested at Faslane in the past and there are probably some still doing so as is their right.

Frances Curran list MSP for the West of Scotland for the SSP tried to introduce as a point of order that she should be able to respond as their actions have been brought into question, personally I think it is about time that someone questioned their actions as this is not the first a time that the SSP/Solidarity have purposefully went to a protest to be arrested, the G8 protests in Edinburgh were a prime example. As someone who was caught in the centre of Edinburgh as a spectator to these protests I saw the chaos to ordinary peaceful demonstrators that it caused, and the disruption to the ordinary member of the public.

FRANCES CURRAN SSP

FASLANE AND HOW THEIR ACTIONS EFFECT YOU!

After the press report in the Paisley Daily Express today regarding Frances Curran local list MSP for the SSP being arrested I thought that it was important that my constituents were provided with the information of how Ms Curran's actions effected them.

If you are a Daily Record reader you will have noticed that today they ran with an article advising that Scotland's communities are being 'robbed' of their community police force by the protests at Faslane, Seedhill is one of those areas. On Monday the local Community Officer was seconded to Faslane in order to effectively do crowd control for the SSP/Solidarity MSP group.

I do not agree with Nuclear weapons, I have said before and will probably say again that I have not made up my mind on the issue of the replacement of Trident, but, I know that I would not be 'purposefully' getting myself arrested in order to prove my point, which is what Ms' Curran, Kane and Leckie have been doing for sometime now. Ms Kane of the SSP was giggling and laughing as the Police had to forceably remove her, if she is charged with breach of the peace she will (as she has before) refuse to pay the fine and go to jail.

It is no mistake that the SSP/Solidarity are constantly removed from blocking the entrance, I deplore their actions they do not seem to care what effect this has on their constituents.

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

VOTE SCOTLAND

The Electoral Commission have launched a website outling the situation for this coming May's Local Government and the Scottish Parliamentary Elections.

There is an interesting section on how the single transferable vote system works and how to vote, obviously not who to vote for! I would encourage everyone to have a look at it as it is a really useful resource, it does not go into the boundaries and what they mean for you, but your local council should be able to provide this for you, I will personally be putting on a post outlining the changes for my constituents and maybe (if I can work out how to get it online) a graphic as well!

One of the sections on the site gives you a link to download a postal vote application form which because you have put in your postcode has the correct return information. If you are wanting to know more about postal vote applications please contact your local Councillor or your local Council, Renfrewshire Joint Valuation Board

GORDON LABOUR PARTY

NEW WEBSITE

You will notice in the links section there is a new link to the Gordon Labour Party this has been sent to me by the ever helpful Mr Handy (thanks again), the site is excellent and not only gives you a biography of the Local MSP's but gives you an idea of what the Labour Party are doing locally to target the SNP mis information, and the local news, check it out for yourself.

CHURCH AND STATE

AMERICA HAS IT RIGHT?

At least in theory the separtion of powers enshrined in the Amercian constituion is in my humble opinion the best idea, the idea that there would be any 'national religion' repulses me.

Before anyone out there gets their knickers in a twist I know that the separation of powers in the American Constituition does not do what it says on the tin. I realise that the Religous groups in Amercia have an extreme influence on the agenda and the laws, although they are supposed to be separate you only have to look at the Roe Vs Wade debate to testify to this, however the idea that there would be no 'national religion' has merit.

Why should anyone be able to refuse anyone else a service simply because of their beliefs? How will they do it? Will they have signs saying no gays here?

As Angela Eagle MP (Labour) suggests ...

"We're not curtailing religious freedom, people can argue against the practice of homosexuality if they must. What this law does is say it's wrong to put a sign outside a pub or a hotel saying 'no gays'...That is right, proper and moderate."

SNP VS INDEPENDENTS

ROUND ONE

This morning in the Paisley Daily Express there is a rather interesting article, it concerns Cllr Bill Martin. Apparently Cllr Martin is standing down at the next election, availing himself of the Scottish Executive's pension pay out for older Councillors of £20,000. Why is this news I hear you ask? Well ... it turns out that the SNP are not happy because Bill has decided his wife Carolyn (see here for information, try the section on evidence) will be standing in Glenburn in his place.

The accusation by Cllr MacKay of the SNP is that he is trying to have his cake an eat it!

One thing is for sure this is not the last you have heard of this row, it will probably be replayed in the run up to the election, watch this space for round two.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I'M BACK

I have to apologise for my absence and the lack of formatting in this post, not quite sure why but the text format box has disappeared? It could be because I am using my sisters mac instead of my own PC! Anyhoot I can fix it when I get home!

I just wanted to say Happy New Year to all of you, the adverse weather probably affected quite a few plans but I hope it didn't spoil anyone's fun! For my part I went to a friends for dinner it is becoming somewhat of a tradition, past three years and counting and the food just gets better every year, I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

So back to the grindstone and making 2007 our year! More later...

(Got the formatting fixed, does anyone else have a problem using this with macintosh?)