Jul 122013
 

By Bob Smith.

The Donald wis on Panorama
Spikkin tae BBC’s John Sweeney
Aboot aa the gyaans  on
At his placie ower at Menie
.
The Sweeney hints tae Mr Trump
6000 jobs hinna cum tae fruition
The Trumpie lot war fair pit oot
An treated aa iss wi derision
.
Donald roared – Git rid o aat hoose
Tae the “P&J” editor’s wife
Says she it micht cause a stir
An reap ye lots o strife
.
Faa cares the mannie gabbit
A sure can dee fit a wint
It’s on ma lan quoth Donald
Tae the puir dementit bint
.
The hoose belangs tae David Milne
A chiel Trump disna much like
Bit David stuck twa fingers up
An said Trumpie tak a hike
A billie fae the Royal Toon Plannin
Thocht Trumpie’s case it wis unique
In aa his ‘ears in the plannin game
He’d seen nithing tae cause sic pique
.
Oor First Minister an The Donald
War eence on spikkin terms
They’ve hid a bit o a faa oot
Ower the plans aboot winfairms
.
Trump wis qizzed aboot his dealins
Wi a mannie fae the Mafia mob
Syne he up’s an leaves the interview
Hintin The Sweeney didna ken his job
.
Noo in the pages o “P&J” we read
Business pallies tae his rescue hiv rode
Eence mair tryin tae kid us aa
In the Nor’east the mannie is loed.
.
Birds o a feather flock tigither
A mynd aboot iss  auld sayin
Bit maist o us chiels ken they’re aa feels
Faa dunce tae the tune Trumpie’s playin

Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2013
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Jul 122013
 

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

With the warmer weather, all sorts of undesirables are on the move in our area.  Recently these dodgy types somehow infiltrated the otherwise inaccessible Union Terrace Gardens, and havoc reigns.  Some of these people are so out of their heads on Ribena and Cola (‘coke’ to give it its slang term), that they have taken to lying down on blankets for hours, enjoying what they call ‘grass’ and ‘sun’.

Some of them are barely dressed, wearing shorts and sleeveless tops.  The sooner we get a web under construction, the sooner these miscreants will leave.

Thankfully, just as King Arthur will return to the people one day, Kate Dean has resurfaced.  Her triumphant return to the public eye surely presages her return to public life. 

The Press & Journal gave her a cover photo, and several pages to admonish us for not having the web of granite.  She is quite right in saying we will remember where we were on the day the web died.

As to me, I was in the city council chambers, listening to the likes of Jennifer Craw baying like wounded banshees when the web was kicked into the long grass.  Then I accompanied several other granite web refusnik  nimby-types, and celebrated with a few beers.  Where were you when Kennedy, Elvis and the City Gardens Project died?  If it’s not too emotionally distressing to share your Web memories, please do write in.

There was also a striking photo of Kate petting a cat, which in no way put me in mind of Ian Fleming’s Blofeld character.  Kate tells us she is now working for/with Remploy.  Many Remploy factories are set to close across the country; perhaps this is the time for her to campaign to help those with special needs and abilities to fight for their support services…

After months of research and interviews covering all sides of the Menie Estate saga, the BBC’s Panorama aired on Monday this week.  I joined a dozen or so people in a local pub to watch the programme’s first airing together.

Personally, I was very disappointed.  I’ve spent most of the past 5 months waiting for this programme, wondering what Sarah Malone Bates would be wearing on camera, and how her rapier-like wit would deal with reporter John Sweeney’s questions.  Alas!  I don’t think we got to see her at all!

What’s the point of being the Vice President if you don’t get to be on telly?  I wonder if the catch phrase ‘You’re Fired!’ ever enter her mind when she thinks of her TV star boss?

We can all learn a few public relations tips from his Panorama performance

First, it was awfully good of The Donald and his Mini Me to find time to talk to the Beeb, in between trips to Africa to kill leopards and dangerous elephants, hacking bits off  the carcases for lovely trophies.  I’m not the only girl to have swooned at the footage of the Trump clan braving the jungle to kill critters.  A woman sitting next to me turned very pale at the images of the dead things and severed tails in the Panorama clip; it must have been because the guys were so macho.

We can all learn a few public relations tips from his Panorama performance.  In case you missed it on Monday, here’s a handy link for future viewing:-  http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b036yklf/Panorama_The_Trouble_with_Trump/  Inevitably, this week’s definitions are connected to the show.

Bromance: (modern English) Term used to describe a close friendship between two men.

Alex and Donald; Donald and Alex.  They met, they started a transatlantic bromance over lobster, oysters, champagne and planning permission.

North East Scotland was going to get 7,000 jobs (Trump says in the interview with John Sweeney) and a billion pound golf and housing complex.  In exchange Salmond was going to over-ride environmental protection and protocol.  Hand in hand they romped over The Great Dunes of Scotland (aka the Menie coastline).

It was all too good to last.  They broke up, and the dirty linen hit the headlines.

The bromance between Don and Alex has died; and no love is lost between Local Hero and Top Scot Michael Forbes and the Donald, either.  in the recent past Trump has called Forbes ‘a porker’ – heaven knows what precisely that means.  Let’s assume it means Forbes is not as physically pleasing as Trump – but then again, who is?  When John Sweeney asked Michael Forbes how he felt at being called a porker, Forbes responded:

 “that was pretty good coming from a clown.”

Sadly, I see no bromance brewing there, either.

Don’t look for a budding romance between Anthony Baxter and Donald Jr either.  Baxter was accused of being a criminal by Junior, quite understandably.  Film maker Baxter went (as directed) to Trump’s site office to discuss the loss of water to the properties; the Trump people accidentally broke a crucial water pipe and accidentally left the residents without water for 7 days.

Junior says Baxter went into a house uninvited with a camera over his shoulder.  That house was the site office, and Baxter was told to go there by Trump staff, all captured on film.

Quite rightly the police then busted Baxter and his pal on the Trump site manager’s say-so.  Now Junior says Baxter is a criminal; Baxter for some reason seems to think Don Jun is a liar. ( No valentines this year then).

To Read: (English – infinitive verb) to look at printed words and digest their contents.

The arguments between Salmond and Trump were at the height of acrimony on two topics:-

Did Salmond ask Trump’s support over the release of the Lockerbie bomber?  Did Salmond promise there would be no offshore wind farms?  The answers seem to be yes and no respectively.

Donald seems to have proof that Alex wanted a letter of support from Trump.  Trump tells us this would have hurt his popularity (as if such a thing were possible).

But what of Trump’s continued cries of foul over the offshore wind farm?

Trump states in his unabridged copy of the Panorama interview that George Sorial was present when Salmond promised not to allow offshore wind farms.  As unbiased a witness as one could wish for, it is a pity Sorial or someone in his office didn’t read the part of the 2008 Scottish Government Reporters’ planning report that referred to the wind farms.  For alas!  If our First Minister did make such a promise, it didn’t register with the government reporters; their report which gave approval for the golf complex reads in part:-

“21.106 “No particular concerns are raised about the coastal path network, landscape impact, links to the airport or the proposed offshore wind development. It was agreed that the only particular issue for the city council was whether the proposed housing would have an effect on the traffic in the city,  such as at the Bridge of Don…”  
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/212607/0067709.pd

Colour me over-cautious, but if a government report on my multi-million pound project came out, I’d have one of my legal guys read it.

If such a report made reference to ‘the proposed offshore wind development’ when I thought my pal had promised there was not going to be an offshore wind development, I’d probably look into it before building bunds, bulldozing the place and locking the gates shut.

I’m no lawyer, I’m no town planner, I’m no Donald Trump – but to me a report referring to a proposed offshore wind development would make me wonder if there were a proposed offshore wind development.

Easy mistake.  Perhaps the Trump people should hire some experts going forward to look at documents and legalities.  But clearly Team Trump wasn’t going to make any further mistakes, and so he decided to film the film makers.

Media Bias: (modern English) a condition of television/print media/radio to have a particular stance on issue or issues, demonstrated in the contents of its publications/broadcasts favouring one side of an issue. (Aberdeen residents won’t know much about media bias, but thankfully that left-wing, biased, socialist bastion which is the BBC provides one).

The Trump Organisation had a brilliant idea – Trump made his own video tape of John Sweeney interviewing him, and posted the ‘uncut’ interview footage on YouTube.  This would let the world see how biased the BBC is.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZlHvVbHqVI

It may be a hard concept for Press & Journal / Evening Express readers to grasp – but sometimes news reports can be slightly skewed to play up or play down particular stories at the whims of owners, or even editors of media companies.  The Donald wanted, per usual, to make sure he captured the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

The Trump videotape begins by explaining that John Sweeney has a ‘lousy reputation’.  I’m sure the BBC are really sweating it now.  I’m sure if someone posted on a public website that Trump had a lousy reputation, Donald would just forgive and forget, and not launch any nasty lawsuits.  I guess we’ll see if Sweeney is as magnanimous as Trump.

No doubt the BBC created a wholly one-sided Panorama programme.  This is evidenced by the extensive interviews Panorama held with father and son.  Obviously, the only reason these gun-toting, slightly aggressive gentlemen look bad is because of how the BBC edited them.

So what does this video show?  What devious  Machiavellian twists of the BBC are laid bare?

The tape begins with Donald explaining how his mom / grand mom loved Scotland (aww), and how the only logical tribute to this love was to put up a few hundred homes and a golf course or two on The Great Dunes Of Scotland.  The interview was going swimmingly; I was starting to warm towards Trump myself, then bang!  The aggressive interviewer had the temerity to ask about a massive lawsuit and possible mafia entanglement.  Oh dear.

Unfortunately the Trump team’s camera failed to record this mafia/Ft Lauderdale section of the interview; the screen went black.  Mr Trump then had to leave immediately to go see a group of people, quite understandably.  The Trump-recorded tape ends with a black screen with text inviting the viewer to ‘notice the reaction of the producer in the back ground who expressed her disgust with Mr Sweeney’s unfair and biased interview.  Quite right.

As if Mr Trump having leased his name to a now-failed Ft Lauderdale development with over 40 people now filing lawsuits has any bearing on his ability to create a development here.  You’d almost think the poor man has a bad track record.

Some spoilsports who objected to granting permission for the development at Menie had expressed concerns with the Trump organisation’s track record and reputation.  But this wasn’t going to get in the way of his company being deemed suitable to have its way with The Great Dunes of Scotland.

Back in the day, the government reporters’ report referred to some of these objections:-

“We were passed some letters of objection from the public that contain offensive remarks about the applicant and his business; inappropriate comments directed at others; defamatory and personal comments about councillors involved in decision making in Aberdeenshire; and political statements favouring one party over another.

“None of these matters has any bearing on the planning merits of the case and such comments have been discounted from our consideration which is concentrated on those issues that are relevant to deciding an outline planning application.”

 We should all thank those unbiased government decision makers, not least the Aberdeenshire planning officers who brushed away these petty concerns.  Trump may not have brought the 7,000 jobs or the houses or the hotel yet, but that’s surely nothing to do with his track record.  It’s only the wind farms stopping us from having the world’s greatest golf course.

Next week’s definitions:  unaccountable, back-tracking, deceitful, scheming, exaggeration, manipulation – and other planning-related technical terms.

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Nov 092012
 

By Bob Smith.

A stairted tae believe in miracles
Fin a heard BBC2 wis tae play
The brilliant film “You’ve been Trumped”
On TV screens aa ower theUK
.
Fae Lerwick doon tae Plymouth Ho
Gweed fowk wid learn the facts
Aboot fit wis gyaan on at Menie
Aboot aa the undemocratic acts
.
Noo Trumpie he wint apoplectic
Ca’in puir Anthony Baxter a fool
An demandin that the BBC
Fae screens the film they pull
.
The BBC  billies said  on yer bike
Iss documentary is award winnin
We’ve nae intention  ma chiel
O iss film tae be binnin
.
Efter the screenin on the box
The shit it fair hit the fan
Wi fowk aa noo demandin
The Donald he leave oor lan
Excuses fae oor First Meenister
Sayin the film wis only ae view
Aye, een a doot ma mannie
Fit wis mair factual an true
.
True tae form the “Trump Gazette”
Plus it’s sister the “Evening Distress”
Did throwe their TV review columns
Try ti help Trumpie oot the mess
.
Bit we aa kent fitwisfit
The film it  fair blew a hole
Throwe aa the Trump propaganda
In local papers we’ve hid tae thole
.
Wull Trump cairry oot his threat
Tae sue ilka bugger he disna like?
Awa an bile yer heid min
An yer lackies can tak a hike
.
.
.
.
Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2012
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Oct 242012
 

A documentary about a golf course? On the face of it, this might not sound like a thrilling premise for a feature documentary. Then again, this is no ordinary golf course. And this is no ordinary film. Suzanne Kelly examines the impact of Anthony Baxter’s You’ve Been Trumped in the wake of the film being broadcast on national television.

You’ve Been Trumped is the story of a handful of Aberdeenshire residents, and what happens when two intrepid documentary makers dare scrutinise Donald Trump.

Despite the best efforts of the Trump machine to smear the individuals involved, discredit the film and stop its being shown on the BBC, You’ve  Been Trumped made its national television premier on 21 October 2012, some 16 months after its first outing.

Director Anthony Baxter may not have intended to stir up a hornet’s nest, but his film is playing a part in Scottish politics.

Grampian Police, Aberdeen’s newspapers, Creative Scotland, local and national government officials through to First Minister Alex Salmond – all come out of this story badly. 

What started as an investigation into life at the Menie Estate has taken in the issues of government accountability, wind farms, and even the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

You’ve Been Trumped: the early days

June 2011: a film is shown at the Belmont Cinema in Aberdeen; ticket demand is equalled only by sales for the last instalment of Harry Potter. This is local news. Local newspapers Aberdeen Press & Journal and its sister, Aberdeen Evening Express, completely ignore the film, however.

The film charts the arrival of Donald Trump at  Aberdeenshire coast’s Menie Estate which he has purchased, vowing to turn it into the world’s greatest golf course. The area, partially on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), is protected by law. The local authority, Aberdeenshire Council, vote against the massive Trump development by one vote.

In an unprecedented move, the Scottish Government then call in the Shire’s decision and overturn it.

The film documents the very real, devastating effects on local residents who refused to sell up to Trump and leave their homes. It follows several of these people and accurately documents what life was (and still is) like for them with the arrival of Trump’s private security and construction workers. Experts with environmental, governmental and economic credentials are also featured explaining what is wrong with the development.

Trees are destroyed, mounds of earth are piled high around residents’ homes, power lines are broken, and residents’ property is invaded and destroyed. When the homeowners find their water supply has been ‘accidentally’ dammed by Trump’s team and seven days elapse without any remedial action, Anthony Baxter and Richard Phinney go to the estate office to ask what is being done.

At this point the documentary makers become the subject of their own film.

Visiting the estate manager to discuss the water issue, Baxter and Phinney receive a hostile reception and leave. They then visit resident Susan Munro, and a police car pulls up. A discussion between filmmakers and the police inexplicably, abruptly turns into a very physical arrest – all caught on film.

Genesis Of The Film

Baxter grew up further down the coast, and spent summers in the Balmedie area. This was his inspiration for making this film. He was turned down for funding by Creative Scotland, the government-run arts funding board, which decreed not enough people would be interested in the story. He went ahead anyway, mortgaging his home to fund this project.

Between June 2011 and October 2012 the film toured the world, winning awards and earning critical acclaim. Internationally respected documentary film maker Michael Moore had this to say on the occasion of You’ve Been Trumped! winning a special prize at the Traverse City Film Festival:

“… Anthony Baxter entered the front lines of the fight against the developers to capture the outrage of the locals, who stood tall against bulldozers even as their own police force aided Trump’s henchmen in protecting his project.”

Trump Gets Cross

At first the Trump team dismissed the film as being ‘boring’. When the film started showing more widely, the Trump organisation  began to retaliate.  George Sorial, Director of International Development at the Trump Organisation, called the film “a complete fraud.”

It seems the BBC decision to show the award-winning documentary proved too much for the Trump organisation, and they are threatening to sue the corporation. A statement verging on the apoplectic was issued:

Sarah Malone of Trump International Golf Links on STV:

“We are appalled at the BBC’s decision to broadcast the highly biased and manipulative so-called documentary You’ve Been Trumped.

“It is not a documentary – it is a piece of propaganda that is wildly inaccurate, defamatory and deliberately misleading.

“Baxter is not a credible journalist or film-maker. He set out to create a sensationalist, Local Hero story, through underhand, clandestine means, in the hope of making money off the Trump name.”

“We have taken legal advice, and are determined not to let this matter end here.”

http://news.stv.tv/north/196067-donald-trump-threatens-legal-action-after-documentary-aired/

Baxter Opens Several Cans Of Worms

The Media And Trump

Perhaps the threat of lawsuits intimidates some members of the press; others are perhaps seduced by The Donald’s wealth (often-questioned as it may be), or his television fame –or they might have hopes of future advertising revenue. The sad fact is that the media in Aberdeen have hardly mentioned Baxter, while every visit a Trump family member makes to the City seems to be front page news.; TV and local radio Northsound did give the film attention when it debuted.  STV does give coverage as quoted above, but questions arise over its use of Malone’s assertions without challenge, as if they were fact. Malone says Baxter is not a journalist, that the film is propaganda, and was made using underhand methods.

These are the sorts of slanderous remarks Trump would take to court in an instant if they were levelled against him.

Aberdeen Voice editor Fred Wilkinson wrote to STV asking for evidence of Malone’s claims, specifically evidence of £100M having been spent on the course and the clubhouse, and Malone’s statements relating to an independent poll which she claims proves over 90% of local residents support the project, and that:

“ten thousand people … flocked to play the course this season.”

What is wrong with STV repeating these claims in an article is further explained in Wilkinson’s letter:

“… I have real doubts if there is evidence to back up these claims, and therefore, have to ask if it is good journalism to allow these to stand.

“By printing quotes which present such fantastic figures as fact, you are at least to some extent endorsing the validity of the statements/figures.”

 ( Read: Fred Wilkinson’s letter to STV )

Grampian Police:  Keen To Arrest, Not Keen To Explain

If Ms Malone is correct and Baxter is manipulative and used underhand methods then he is a genius at it. His getting the police to arrest him and producer Richard Phinney for Breach of the Peace is one of the most powerful parts of the movie.

Asked about the arrest and the policing policy at Menie, this is what the Grampian Police had to say:-

 “…in Spring 2009, following the announcement of a number of strategic economic and infrastructure developments, Grampian Police established a short life Critical Incident Preparation Group (CIPG).

“… a generic, local strategy, relevant to Menie Estate (was) developed. This has been determined as; Maximise safety; minimise disruption; facilitate lawful protest; deter, detect, detain and report those responsible for unlawful behaviour.”

You could be forgiven for thinking the same police force that refused to stop Trump’s people trespassing on private property, or insist the water was restored promptly would have perhaps thought a caution was more appropriate than handcuffs. You would be wrong.

Aberdeen city centre can resemble the Wild West on a weekend night. If everyone committing a breach of peace was arrested, the street would be deserted.  Yet police claim a policy to deter unlawful behaviour, but seem to be using this self-granted power only when it suits.

As reported in the Guardian, the police eventually made an apology of sorts:

Chief Inspector Martin Mackay:

“I can understand why a member of the public could have perceived the police actions within the documentary as being rash and confrontational and this has caused me some concern”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/13/filmmaker-apology-arrest-trump-resort

This ‘apology’ is condescending to the public, the implication being it is not able to differentiate between rightful arrest and the bullying of journalists.  Phinney and Baxter learned of the apology not from the police, but from the Guardian.

Anthony and Richard explained they were making a documentary. They identified themselves as journalists (indeed, they have a number of radio and television credits, despite what Ms Malone might say).  Journalists should be allowed to pursue stories without fear of police intimidation or arrest.  The National Union of Journalists described the arrests as an “unprecedented” breach of media freedom.

Perhaps the least democratic aspect of the arrests is that the charges were then dropped. While at first that might seem like a victory, what it means in fact is that Baxter and Phinney never got to tell their side in court or clear their names. The police might well have looked very bad in court.

Furthermore, the charges were dropped on condition no further Breach of the Peace occurred. Was this an attempt to silence them and stop their filming? It could well have been the intent.

Who exactly is in charge of the Grampian Police? They have since complained they were ‘under pressure’ from Trump… perhaps they should review how they act under pressure?

The Clerk of Works: A Selective View

Trees were bulldozed and buried in a pit or pits; this is captured on film.

Mounds of earth were raised around the homes of Susan Munro and David Milne – these are still there per recent photos, and have caused serious problems. Precisely what they are there for other than to block out these homeowners from seeing and being seen is unclear.

The entrance sign is far larger than it was supposed to be. This might seem a minor matter, but one wonders if Trump is using such deviation as the thin edge of the wedge to see how far he can go without any objection. In fact, Trump sued Palm Beach for $10 million over the over-sized flag pole he wanted to erect at his property there.

Running water loss, mounds of earth, buried trees, a bill for fencing erected without consultation slapped on a resident. In August 2011 the Clerk of Works wrote :

“Firstly, the loss of water alleged is not a planning issue…”

“The removal of trees was part of the overall and extensive tree survey undertaken relative to the planning … Extensive habitat translocation was undertaken to receptor sites. An area of on site disposal was used for scraped vegetation, etc. only – this work did not involve trees”

“With regard to the erection of fencing, the planning service has no knowledge of this, nor any subsequent billing.”  [David Milne was presented with an exorbitant bill by the Trump organisation for fencing he had not agreed with erecting]

“You mention a large amount of earth on the site – the earth bunding we believe you are referring to was fully removed by April 5, 2011″ [not according to the residents in August 2011].

Given the behaviour of the local press, police and authorities, you might be forgiven for thinking there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. Surely the national government would be free from the  taint of such bias?

Trump and Salmond:  Dinners, Dramas, Democracy

As Trump was seeking permission for his Menie golf haven, you might have expected any politicians to stay well clear of him for fear of being seen to be biased. Planning regulations likewise indicate prudence was called for. No such inhibitions or concerns for propriety occurred to Alex Salmond; he and Trump have had an expensive dinner or two together.

What were the topics of discussion? Surely Alex’s duty as a First Minister did not allow him to make deals with rich men currently seeking planning permission?

But just as Trump has some form with threatening legal action, Salmond has a history of seeking out the rich and famous. He was asked tough questions about his relationship to Rupert Murdoch at the Leveson Inquiry. He seems to have had a hand in promoting the controversial Granite Web project, a massive building scheme billionaire Sir Ian Wood tried to create over Aberdeen’s Union Terrace Gardens.

When the two dined in October 2007, Trump would later claim Salmond lured him into making a one billion pound investment at Menie, with Salmond promising there would never be any wind farms near that stretch of coastline. When a wind farm application was put forward, the relationship between the two men soured.

Trump testified to the Scottish Parliament that he was the evidence that such a promise existed; Salmond denies the conversation took place. However, it is undeniable that the Scottish Government took the unprecedented step of intervening in Trump’s planning application, rubber-stamping it over the local government’s will.  (Perhaps Salmond should have skipped dinner, all things considered).

But no one ever believed that Salmond would have courted Trump over the controversial release of the one man found guilty of the Lockerbie bombing. That man,  Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, was terminally ill with cancer and in the midst of appealing his sentence. He always maintained he was innocent. Whatever the merits or otherwise of Megrahi’s conviction, Salmond was in favour of allowing him return to Libya.

The Donald played a major trump card when he revealed Salmon sought his support over Megrahi’s release. Geoff Aberdein, special adviser to Salmond, drafted a statement for Trump supporting the controversial release. Trump refused – knowing full well that a New Yorker taking such a stance would become a pariah.

According to the Herald, Salmond was:

“… very unhappy and demanded to speak to Mr Trump,” he said.

“He was demanding and insisted he had helped us and now it was time to help him.”

Trump has the evidence on his side over this episode of his relations with Salmond – perhaps he was likewise telling the truth about the wind farms? Sometimes it is hard to tell.

The implications are staggering: our First Minister asked a New York real estate developer to support a controversial legal decision. What exactly was the quid pro quo? Was it the carte blanche Salmond gave Trump at Menie?

In any event, it is safe to say this is one Anglo-American special relationship that is truly over.

All the evidence points to democracy being thrown out of the window at the first whiff of dollars, from the lowest clerk or policeman on the beat to Scotland’s First Minister.

Arguably, we owe all of these revelations to Baxter and Phinney’s determination to make their documentary.

Local Points of View Today

Baxter was taken aback at the Aberdeen Evening Express’s assertions he was unavailable for comment as reported in the Monday 22 October edition, when an interview with him was going out the very next day. At the time of writing it is not clear how much time the paper allowed Baxter to respond before making its unavailable for comment statement. (The Evening Express has several editions per day; perhaps it could have mentioned that an interview was pending?). “Nonsense,” was the word Baxter used in response to the EE’s claim.

There is no doubt that those living in the shadow of this golf club are genuinely, deeply grateful to Anthony and Richard for sharing their plight with the world. After the BBC screening – and the Trump spokeswoman Malone’s attempts to discredit You’ve Been Trumped – long-suffering resident David Milne, depicted in the film, wrote:

“The screening of You’ve Been Trumped has to be seen as a triumph for honesty in journalism, something that has been lacking in the main papers in the area for some time, with their censorship of the main campaign group fighting for the residents’ right to be heard. Trump now claims that he has had no right to reply and is about to sue, why now?

 “The film has been public for about two years now and has toured the world several times gaining ten international awards in the process. If he (Trump) expects us to believe none of his people sneaked in while it was showing in New York and reported back then he is truly an idiot. 

“The article in the EE mentions a local poll. Is this the same one he mentioned in a previous BBC programme (money programme All American Billionaire?, Emily Maitliss) where he previously quoted a local poll which he was challenged on and failed to provide evidence, because there is none? The current posturing, shouting and gnashing of teeth is simply the antics of a spoilt schoolyard bully who has been caught out and shown as a liar, bully and thug.”

A fundamental environmental protection order lifted, peoples’ lives affected for the worse, planning integrity called into question at the highest levels, eyebrow-raising policing, and power politics. All part of a documentary about a golf course. We are indebted to Baxter and Phinney for bringing all these stories into the light, which might otherwise have never come out.

Coda: Mother Nature may well have something to say about Trump’s efforts at fixing a sand dune system which has been on the move for thousands of years. Reports coming in from the course suggest that the wind and tides may have their own ideas for the future of Menie.

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Oct 112012
 

With thanks to Anthony Baxter.

Award winning documentary film You’ve Been Trumped, branded a “failure” by Donald Trump, has been scheduled for prime time television.

The filmmaker who was put in jail by Scottish police and had hours of footage impounded while making a documentary about the environmental and human toll of Donald Trump’s luxury golf course development north of Aberdeen, will see his feature length documentary shown across the UK on BBC Two and BBC HD on October 21 at 10pm.

“After all that we have gone through I can’t quite believe its happening,” says Anthony Baxter, director of You’ve Been Trumped“It’s been an amazing journey.”

Baxter and his Producer Richard Phinney faced criminal charges when Grampian police arrested them  and confiscated their camera equipment after Baxter interviewed Donald Trump’s green keeper about the cutting off of water supplies to local residents, including an 86 year old woman.

The National Union of Journalists backed the filmmakers and called the arrest of Baxter a “violent” and “blatant example of police interference aimed at stopping bona fide journalists from doing their job.”  The charges were finally dropped and an apology made by Grampian police following an internal investigation.

You’ve Been Trumped tells the story of the extraordinary confrontation between the tycoon Donald Trump and a proud and  tightly knit community of Scottish residents, following the controversial approval of the Trump development by the Scottish Government of First Minister Alex Salmond.

The Trump golf course has been built on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) after the Scottish Government decided the ‘economic benefits outweighed any environmental concerns.’

Baxter, who was initially turned down for production funding by broadcasters and Scottish cultural agencies, shot, directed and edited the documentary, and raised money on the internet to finish the film.  Since then, You’ve Been Trumped has won 10 awards; played in 17 countries; been translated into Chinese, Romanian, Finnish, Czech, Polish and Greek;  and has found its way into classrooms in Scotland, Canada and Italy.

  Rarely does a film do such a masterful job of taking one small place to reveal how the world works

Though Donald Trump has called the film “a failure” You’ve Been Trumped has received widespread critical acclaim.  Michael Moore said he was “blown away by the film” and invited it to his Traverse City Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize.

Alec Baldwin, the Chairman of the Hamptons International Film Festival in New York, awarded the film the prestigious Victor Rabinowitz Social Justice Award, named after one of America’s leading civil rights lawyers.

Speaking from New York after hearing of the BBC Two transmission, Mr Baldwin said,

“Anthony Baxter’s You’ve Been Trumped is my favorite kind of documentary.  Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.  I encourage anyone to see this film.”

Meanwhile, Bill Moyers, the legendary American broadcaster, who devoted much of a recent addition of his PBS show Moyers & Company to the film added,

“Rarely does a film do such a masterful job of taking one small place to reveal how the world works. By putting a face on the One Percent – and the face of Donald Trump, at that – Anthony Baxter has given us an unforgettable portrait of capitalism run amok at the expense of the 99.  It’s a remarkable, revealing and very moving and important film.  Don’t miss it!”

In August, Occupy Wall Street projected the film on the side of Trump Tower in New York City, saying in a statement that Mr Trump was the ‘ultimate one-percenter’ and called for the billionaire to be held accountable for his ‘environmental crimes’ in Scotland.’

While You’ve Been Trumped was widely released in Scotland, playing in 15 towns and cities, including sold out showings in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the BBC Two broadcast on October 21 will be the best chance for many in the rest of the United Kingdom to see the film.

“As the response to You’ve Been Trumped around the world shows, this is not just a Scottish story,” said Baxter.

“The land sacrificed for this development was part of Britain’s natural heritage, and I believe the issues raised in the film are critically important to environmental and planning debates across the UK.  I would like to thank the BBC for recognising the film needed to reach a broader public.”

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Jun 272012
 

You’ve Been Trumped,  the highest rated documentary in UK history, will receive its official cinema release in Scotland just days before the ‘star’ of the film can hit the first golf ball on his troubled development near Aberdeen. With thanks to Anthony Baxter.

The feature, which scooped up 10 major awards during its global festival run, premieres on Friday July 6th in the home of golf, St. Andrews.

This will be followed by an unprecedented cinema run in Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Stirling and the Highlands and Islands.

The film will also play in London and selected theatres elsewhere in the UK before opening in the United States in August through Manhattan based International Film Circuit. 

Hollywood star Alec Baldwin, who is a ‘great admirer’ of the film, has asked to host a screening during You’ve Been Trumped’s premiere week in New York.

The brand new cinema release version of the film, given a PG rating by the British Board of Film Classification, features fresh scenes – including a moment where Mr Trump appears uncertain as to whether his golf course is situated on the east or west coast of Scotland.  It also features a beautiful, but scathing, song by Scots folk favourite Karine Polwart.

Director Anthony Baxter, who recently received an apology from Grampian police for being thrown in jail while making the film, says:

 “The timing is no accident.  We felt it was essential to get the film in front of the Scottish public before Mr Trump’s global hype machine churns into action.  And what better place to open the film than St. Andrews, where you really do find the best golf course in the world.”

Donald Trump’s publicity efforts seem not to be as effective as they once were.  After a disastrous appearance at the Parliamentary committee looking into wind farms Mr Trump has had to change his plans for his opening fourball, which he once predicted would include Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond and Sir Sean Connery.  According to press reports, both men are avoiding the launch of the development on July 10th.

Meanwhile emeritus Professor Paul Cheshire from the London School of Economics, the leading economist who predicts in You’ve Been Trumped the economic benefits promised by Mr Trump and Mr Salmond would never materialise, says he has been proven right and that Donald Trump’s objections to wind farms are a diversion.

“Mr Trump seems to be using the offshore wind farm plan as a way of saving face while kicking sand in the face of the Scots.  The people of Aberdeenshire have sadly lost a habitat of wild beauty for no noticeable economic gain.”

“Thus far, only a handful of full time jobs have been created by the resort, just a fraction of the 6,000 promised by Mr Salmond and Donald Trump.”

Leading geomorphologist, Dr Jim Hansom of the University of Glasgow, who gave evidence against the Trump plans at Scotland’s Parliament on behalf of Scottish Natural Heritage, is warning fellow Scots not to be fooled by glossy newspaper and TV images of green fairways.

“What was once a wild, dynamic and inspirational place is now just another manicured and polished piece of coastal real estate.  Mountains of sand trucked in and bulldozed into shape are concealed by a superficial veneer of golf-course green.  A human-made place and a wilderness destroyed.”

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Oct 212011
 

By Bob Smith.

A’ve bin haen an e-mail natter
Wi a mannie fae the P&J
Aboot their lack o recogneetion
Fer the film aboot the Menie affray

Nae meention o it’s Scottish premiere
Fit wye?  A thocht a wid speir
“You’ve Been Trumped” is a success
The P&J winna mak iss clear

Na Na,  the chiel wisna haen iss
The paper hid scriven some spiel
On mony occasions said the mannie
He must think a’m bliddy feel !!

I syne askit plain an ti the pint
Dates please faan iss wis printed
The chiel widna say nae mair
So a didna git fit a wintit

Noo the craitur wis maist pit oot
Fer hintin they war Trumpie’s freen
Maybe if the mannie hid ‘s wye
A’d be run oot o Aiberdeen

A’ve aywis thocht a newspaper
Wis supposed ti report the news
Tho aboot  “You’ve Been Trumped”
We’ll nivver read the P&J’s views

©Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2011
Image Credit: © Guy Shapira | Dreamstime.com

Oct 072011
 

By Bob Smith.

Hark the “Sunday Herald”  did sing
An ti us aa the news did bring
Trump  he wintit oor cops ti be
Jist like the lot in the NYPD

Donald he cam fae oot the sky
An ti oor bobbies wint in bye
Askin they aa did his biddin
Fowks the mannie wisna kiddin!!

Fit dis the silly bugger fear
Molly Forbes in combat gear?
Maybe David Milne wi bows an arras
Dis Susan Munro train “Suicide sparras” ?

The tap bobbies noo they warna convinced
Bein accused o bias they maybe sensed
Bi drappin aathing at Trumpie’s request
Yet twa filmin chiels they did arrest

Aberdeenshire Cooncil think Donald’s a god
An were maybe happy that PC Plod
Wid flee aroon at Trumpie’s biddin
Checkin fit’s happenin at “Michael’s Midden”

Faa’s tellin the truth aboot the windfairm
Did Scottish Government agree nae ti hairm
The bonnie view fae Donald’s mansion
An turbine plans they winna sanction

The fowk faa work in MacLeod Hoose
Are feart that vandals are on the loose
Wull Dod Sorial an aa Trump’s posers
Be shoutin “Donald Faar’s Yer Rozzers?”

©Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2011
Picture Credit:  © Daniel Wiedemann | Dreamstime.com

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 302011
 

You’ve Been Trumped – the documentary film branded ‘a failure’ by Donald Trump has just won its third major documentary award – and first in Scotland – clinching the Scottish Screen Archive Prize for Best Feature Documentary at the Edindocs Festival in Edinburgh. Suzanne Kelly reports.

The award means the film will be archived as an important piece of Scotland’s history and stored at The National Library of Scotland ‘forever’.

This latest award follows two other major festival awards for the film.

In June You’ve Been Trumped won the Green Prize – the top environmental award for UK documentaries – at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival.  And in August, the film scooped the Special Jury Prize at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan.

You’ve Been Trumped was rejected for funding by Creative Scotland and passed over for this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival

However, it has proven to be a hit at some of the world’s most prestigious documentary festivals and will shortly be screened in Australia, Taiwan, Bermuda and at several major film festivals in the United States.

You’ve Been Trumped tells the story of Donald Trump’s attempts to build what he claims will be ‘the greatest golf course in the world’ on a supposedly protected environmental site in Aberdeenshire.   The plan involves building 1500 houses and a luxury hotel on what scientists have described as ‘the crown jewels of Scotland’s Natural Heritage.’

You’ve Been Trumped has just begun a Sheffield Doc/Fest winners’ tour – playing at major independent cinemas across the UK and is also part of the Take One Action Film Festival which takes in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.    The film is also due to return to cinemas in Aberdeen and Dundee next month.  Meanwhile, You’ve Been Trumped will be travelling to the Vancouver International Film Festival later this month and will unspool for its official New York premiere in early October.

Director Anthony Baxter said:

“It’s a great honour for You’ve Been Trumped to be recognised as an important historical document and reassuring to know that future generations will be able to learn lessons from the environmental destruction that’s been unfolding on the Menie Estate for precious little economic benefit.”

Scottish folk singer-songwriter Karine Polwart (“exceptionally subtle and melodic” Q Magazine) is currently penning a new song inspired by events captured in the film, which will be unveiled when You’ve Been Trumped is screened at the FilmHouse in Edinburgh on 2nd October as part of the Take One Action Film Festival.

Footnotes:

  • You’ve Been Trumped (UK, running time 95 minutes) was made by Angus based independent production company Montrose Pictures Ltd.
  • The film score features music from world the world renowned Sigur Rus and the band’s front man Jonsi.
  • Many of You’ve Been Trumped’s future screenings can be viewed here – with more dates to be added.
  • Latest news on the film can be seen here.
  • For further information call Montrose Pictures: +44(0)1674 677 233 or email: projects@montrosepictures.co.uk
Sep 142011
 

Scotland’s Parliament is gearing up for a special screening of the award-winning documentary You’ve Been Trumped today, but First Minister Alex Salmond has declined an invitation to attend, sighting ‘long standing ministerial commitments’. 

Also absent from the Holyrood event will be Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney MSP.  In a statement, Mr Swinney’s office said he was unable to attend due to ‘prior commitments’.  Mr Salmond has previously declined invitations to several presentations of the film across Scotland, including the green-carpet premiere in Aberdeen and subsequent screenings in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

 Scotland’s Government was responsible for giving Donald Trump’s controversial golf development the go-ahead at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire.

However, a number of high profile politicians and key environmental figures have booked places for this evening’s jam-packed Edinburgh screening, including Patrick Harvie MSP (Scottish Green Party Co-Convenor) Stan Blackley, Chief Executive, Friends of the Earth Scotland and geomorphologist Dr Jim Hansom, University of Glasgow (who gave evidence to the Scottish Government inquiry on the Trump development on behalf of Scottish Natural Heritage).

Also present will be Menie Estate resident David Milne whose home overlooks Mr Trump’s resort.  Mr Milne said:

“It’s very important to bring this film to Parliament to emphasise to those who make the laws that it’s not abstract. It’s all about living, breathing, people who have a right to live unharrassed in their own homes, in a landscape that should never have been touched.”

Also watching the documentary unspool will be academics, golf writers and legal experts including Frances McCartney, whose client, 87 year old widow Molly Forbes, has been threatened with eviction and a legal bill of up to £50,000 by US billionaire Donald Trump.

Mr Trump’s office in New York has yet to respond to a personal invitation to the event.

Meanwhile politicians who have not booked their place are being urged to do so by Bob Ward, Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science who recently saw You’ve Been Trumped in London.   Mr Ward describes the tycoon’s efforts to build a golf resort on Site of Special Scientific Interest as ruthless in an article for The Guardian.

Director Anthony Baxter who will also be at the screening said, “We wanted to make it as easy as possible for Scotland’s decision-makers to see the film.  We await to see if any other members of the Government will attend today’s screening, to comment on what an international film jury recently described as:

“one of the worst environmental crimes in recent UK history.”

Today’s screening at the Scottish Parliament is being staged by the Take One Action Film Festival.