Q: Permission problem with textedit file

Choose Utilities from the Finder’s Go menu, open the AppleScript Editor, paste the text below exactly as it's written into it, and run the script:

do shell script "chmod u+x " & quoted form of POSIX path of (choose file)

The file also needs to have been saved as plain text.

(118657)

As I recall, textedit by default uses a file format unsuitable for command line stuff.  You need to save the file in the appropriate format.

If you are creating a bash script or other Unix files, I like to use textwrangler.

I like TextWranglerr for editing bash scripts.
http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/

As long as you save it as a plain text file and not Rich text  it will create shell scripts ok.

Having said that I also prefer TextWrangler for this type of work. As an added bonus it does a great job on plist files.