Hello Pakistan, South Korea, Romania, and the UK...greetings and salutations...and other welcomings to this here blog, and a fairly revisionary post that is moving forward whilst going nowhere...but first, a joke.
What did the Homo Sapien say to the Cro Magnon?...I have nothing to declare but my Genus...(I know that's not strictly accurate 'nomenclature wise', but at least I'm trying)...
City Council has again been using It's newsletter The Border Watch to spew It's rank hypocrisy into the Universe about It's abject failure re the Covered Pool Issue, Parking Tickets, Pavers, etc...and I know I've been through all this before, but this is what's happening...again...
TBW Thursday 29th August 2013 has Sandra Morello writing: Indoor aquatic centre on hold - Council puts potential Mount Gambier development on budget backburner (copy attached)...where Councillors Merv White and Andrew Lee trot out the same old lies and reverse justifications as to why Council has yet again refused to address and resolve the pool issue, and has dumped even talking about it for at least 5 years...
And Cr White goes within a hair's breadth of admitting that the Main Corner was a cockup, stating that Council decided to proceed with the project and to then figure out how to pay for it.
It is irrefutable that;
1) successive Councils have repeatedly ignored the Pool Issue across decades, and;
2) that this specific Council has burned multiple millions on pointless, grossly expensive projects like paying a fortune to buy the Old Hospital, the Main Corner, the Lady Nelson Bus Shelter, the Bloody Paving, etc, and;
3) Council repeatedly uses the 'it won't pay for it's own running costs' justification, which is an extraordinary hypocrisy that is massively amplified by the concurrent excuse that 'Council is already forking out nearly $2.5million per year to run the Library and Main Corner'...
'We can't afford to build the Pool and/or run it because we spent all the money on the Main Corner/Library, without any business plan, which therefore cost a fortune to run with no foreseeable return...but the Pool has to justify itself'...absolute bollocks...(I note that you have somewhat tidied up your language and general sense of fury and seething personal loathing, name calling, etc-Ed)...don't count on it lasting...(I won't-Ed)...
Council trots out the exact same issues to justify not doing the Pool that they completely ignored with the Main Corner and Library...and then say the massive and escalating 'running costs' that they have burdened Mt Gambier with is yet further reason that the Pool cannot proceed...did I mention bollocks?
Then in TBW Friday 30th August 2013 Graham Greenwood brings it all home with his latest pro-Council classic 'Running costs are crucial in deciding fate of any new facility' where he engages in the exact hypocrisy that Council does in excusing Council's failures re the pool by carefully explaining just how badly Council has handled the Main Corner and Library projects and the debt this has placed on Mt Gambier.
All nicely rounded out with trying to shift the blame onto ratepayers and yet more and repeated threats about rate rises..."next time...the first question ratepayers should ask councillors is "how much extra will I permanently have to pay on my rates?"...just how deep they need to dig into their pockets..."
Council listens to no-one other than it's constituent members, their families, and their mates...and if you speak out about Council's actions you are either ignored or viciously attacked...and often both...ignored at first then attacked if you persist...
And the questions continue 'who is getting payed for all those
pavers'...which appear to be already badly stained in places and are
being laid broken and chipped...(are these 'seconds' that have been damaged in storage/production?-Ed)....possibly...the
entire project is an inane, insane waste of money that does look like
an excuse to pay someone for their damaged, unsaleable stock of ugly
pavers.
Is Council planning to rip up all of the new pavers in
front of the Old Town Hall? And what happened to their very expensive
'fly through' animation that showed the entire section from Bay Rd to
Ferrers St as footpath with no parking at all?
Also, while we're on the Pavers, a sadly hilarious topical anecdote...which senior executive of a national company was taken to lunch down the Main Street this week and commented to their hosts that it was 'great to see Council replacing those ugly grey pavers with the red ones'...oops...a brief explanation and a moments observation had the exec enlightened and duly dumbfounded...'they're ugly and because they're so big they'll move', etc...that's over $1million worth of ugliness...(and movement-Ed)...
Because there are the two attached articles and this is getting too long, I'll do...
Tomorrow: PMandA Part II
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...avagoodweekend...laters...
Socio-political commentary and like words and stuff. Now in several interesting new flavours: "https://TMGI-RailLandsRetailAgenda.blogspot.com" AND "https://TMGI-SMLSChildAbuseCoverUp.blogspot.com" AND "https://TMGI-The100Documents.blogspot.com.au/"
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
Sport As News and Positive Drug Use
Hello Italy, France, China, and Germany...welcome to the blog...'Sport as News' is something that some-one mentioned to me as part of another conversation, and it immediately leaped at me as something I had been aware of but didn't recognise for what it was...(apart from annoying-Ed)...exactly, so some other stuff first...
The Agony and The Ecstasy: Fascinating program on ABC about using Ecstasy (MDMA- Methyl Di-oxy Methamphetamine-I think?) to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in USofA soldiers returning from Afghanistan. Basically, the idea is to address the specific issues that induce PTSD whilst 'under the influence' which allows for those memories and resultant feelings to be tackled head on in a context that offers a buffer against future 'remembering'.
By utilising *the massive Serotonin production and resultant rush and sense of euphoria brought on by Ecstasy*, therapists can discuss a soldiers experiences whilst they are 'happy', meaning that when those memories and feelings re-occur they are far less likely to have the same depressive effect as prior to treatment...the Ecstasy allows soldiers/patients to 'confront' and therefore 'disempower' their traumas whilst in a 'good mood' in a controlled environment...and could have similar applications for child abuse victims, road accident survivors, etc...anyone with PTSD.
*(Possibly why people take it 'recreationally'?-Ed)..the question that is the answer...excellent...*
This medicinal application has met the usual opposition and demonisation from close-minded critics who can't move past their personal prejudices to consider the positives...a drug is a drug is a bad thing...the same thing happens with discussions about medical applications of Marijuana, eg, as a 'symptomatic' treatment for the side-effects of Cancer therapies like Chemotherapy, eg, nausea and appetite loss...drop the bias and consider the patient's best interests.
As per previous post, when I did Chemotherapy it was suggested by a senior clinician that I consider taking marijuana because of it's well recognised benefits, and she stated outright that as a junior nurse (back in the 70's/80's) some staff were bringing it into the hospital for Cancer patients to take, and that the senior staff, doctors, etc, knew and unofficially encouraged by not stopping...(whaaa?-Ed)...they knowingly let it happen therefore indicating support...which segues beautifully into...
I've Used Steroids: I occasionally drop this joke on people along the lines of 'back in 2004/05 I did some very hard drugs' and/or 'I've done steroids', referring of course to Chemo...(hilarious...not-Ed)...yeah, you have to pick your audience fairly carefully...(really?-Ed)...fortunately, once you've had Cancer you're allowed to joke about it...(fair enough-Ed)...
The day after each of my 8 Chemotherapy treatments (CHOP) in August 2004 through February 2005, I had a big bright blue injection of pegfilgrastim (a 'steroid') to 're-boot' and/or boost white blood cell and lymphocyte production that was hammered by the Chemo...end of joke...and another positive application of an otherwise maligned drug...(isn't alcohol a drug?-Ed)...absolutely...(and doesn't it also have specific medical applications?-Ed)...again, yes...
Minister For Cities: Prime Minister Rudd is apparently considering introducing this new raft of bureaucracy...and about time, because I've always said that in South Australia there's not enough focus on Adelaide...(sarcasm?-Ed)...yes, the Sar Chasm...that gaping abyss between the reality of Adelaide's self-absorbed obsession with itself and what everyone else in the state experiences...which segues unfortunately into...
Patient Assistance Transport Scheme: Health Minister Jack 'The Rat' Snelling is going to adjust the eligibility criteria so that less people...(less?-Ed)...yes, so less people can access the unchanged funding pool...that is, not more money for country patients who have to travel to Adelaide for treatment, or, for example, to Mt Gambier for child-birth or even just an appointment.
Jack Snelling states that the criteria will be moved from 100kms travel to 150kms to deliberately 'disallow' more people and therefore free up the current funding to be spent on less people...and according to Jack that fixes the problem by making the PATS more equitable...absolute bullshit from a Rann/Weatherill Labor government that has written off Regional SA.
Please refer previous post re the Privatisation of SA Health...that's where all the money is going...and the new Ambulance Station has stalled due to 'soil issues' and is predicted to open about the time of the March 2014 election, which will coincidentally provide MP Don Pegler the opportunity to spruik it as one of 'his achievements'...and the 2011 $27million Hospital Expansion still hasn't been organised with the buildings owner...so that's all moving ahead nicely...
And onto the issue of Sport as News...and why this is happening and why it's a concern...(yes, I agree that it is happening, but why?-Ed)...in a word, 'Distraction'...distraction from (and 'dumbing down' of) the entire news cycle...I don't have a problem with the rear 1/4 of a paper or news service being dedicated to sport because sport is a major part of our societal structure, but enough is enough and everything in it's place...
Sports results and relevant 'news' gets all the coverage they need without being dragged onto the front page in place of more worthy issues, eg, Foreign Land Ownership, Mental Health Issues...(but I don't have a problem with the occasional Commemorative Grand Final covers and that sort of thing-Ed)...no, absolutely, sport is an important social issue often to be celebrated, but it should not replace news.
Recently The Border Watch ran many stories and/or front pages re local horse races, and whilst that is an important issue for many people, there are many other issues they could have dedicated that column space too...for example, say, the DeBelle Inquiry and Federal Royal Commission and how the Child Abuse Cover-up at St Martins Lutheran School show these to be empty rhetoric...(I knew you could get that in there somehow-Ed)...well, it's the Elephant shaped room full of Elephant shaped furniture covered in Elephant hide, all pushed to the walls by a ceiling-high pile of rotting Elephant carcasses...(carci?...the plural of carcass?-Ed)...
As per previous post, TBW does excellent work in extensively covering women's sports, but all of this can stay 'at the rear' with the footy and the geegees and the dishlickers, etc...and keep the news pages for the actual news.
Anyhoos...in my opinion, there is a concerted effort to counter the proliferation of 'Social Media News Sites' and the resultant dissemination of unflattering news items by dragging the entire news cycle away from certain issues and deliberately creating outrage and expenditure of time and energy on relatively irrelevant issues...and sport is very convenient...it's always happening somewhere.
Even this morning, ABC News 24 and ABC 1 were repeatedly running sections of a long interview/story about the Peptides issue in the NRL (Rugby League) and banning of a player for use and/or dealing of these apparently restricted 'Performance Enhancing Drugs'...and other media also are covering it extensively...and of course the Essendon 'Crisis' dominates all...
Also, most of the discussion is about the 'cheating' aspects of the drug use and very little time is spent on the health issues of unmonitored drug use, particularly 'combination use' of various substances that are individually problematic and poorly understood...this was acknowledged, however, with the death of a Rugby League player (last year?) directly linked to his use of PEDs.
There is the 'Reverse Justification' idea that the AFL, NRL, etc, are forcing their sports into the mainstream news cycle to gain attention and self-promote...(I'm not sure that stories about drug misuse, salary cap rorting, pack rape, and other such niceties are really going to move your sport forward-Ed)...exactly...
But some say there is no such thing as bad publicity...(oh, don't start with the Oscar Wilde...you're going to do the Oscar Wilde aren't you?-Ed)...there is only one thing worse than being talked about...(dear god-Ed)...and that's not being talked about...thank you...
And never forget that sport is a multi-billion dollar industry that looks always to promote and protect it's own self-interests...but that's a whole 'nother post.
Tomorrow: Pools, Mills, and Automobiles
From flooding to funding, from ponds to funding, from potholes to...um...(funding?-Ed)..yeah, that'll do...
Confused?...yeah, so am I...so hopefully I'll have something figured out by tomorrow...hopefully...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
The Agony and The Ecstasy: Fascinating program on ABC about using Ecstasy (MDMA- Methyl Di-oxy Methamphetamine-I think?) to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in USofA soldiers returning from Afghanistan. Basically, the idea is to address the specific issues that induce PTSD whilst 'under the influence' which allows for those memories and resultant feelings to be tackled head on in a context that offers a buffer against future 'remembering'.
By utilising *the massive Serotonin production and resultant rush and sense of euphoria brought on by Ecstasy*, therapists can discuss a soldiers experiences whilst they are 'happy', meaning that when those memories and feelings re-occur they are far less likely to have the same depressive effect as prior to treatment...the Ecstasy allows soldiers/patients to 'confront' and therefore 'disempower' their traumas whilst in a 'good mood' in a controlled environment...and could have similar applications for child abuse victims, road accident survivors, etc...anyone with PTSD.
*(Possibly why people take it 'recreationally'?-Ed)..the question that is the answer...excellent...*
This medicinal application has met the usual opposition and demonisation from close-minded critics who can't move past their personal prejudices to consider the positives...a drug is a drug is a bad thing...the same thing happens with discussions about medical applications of Marijuana, eg, as a 'symptomatic' treatment for the side-effects of Cancer therapies like Chemotherapy, eg, nausea and appetite loss...drop the bias and consider the patient's best interests.
As per previous post, when I did Chemotherapy it was suggested by a senior clinician that I consider taking marijuana because of it's well recognised benefits, and she stated outright that as a junior nurse (back in the 70's/80's) some staff were bringing it into the hospital for Cancer patients to take, and that the senior staff, doctors, etc, knew and unofficially encouraged by not stopping...(whaaa?-Ed)...they knowingly let it happen therefore indicating support...which segues beautifully into...
I've Used Steroids: I occasionally drop this joke on people along the lines of 'back in 2004/05 I did some very hard drugs' and/or 'I've done steroids', referring of course to Chemo...(hilarious...not-Ed)...yeah, you have to pick your audience fairly carefully...(really?-Ed)...fortunately, once you've had Cancer you're allowed to joke about it...(fair enough-Ed)...
The day after each of my 8 Chemotherapy treatments (CHOP) in August 2004 through February 2005, I had a big bright blue injection of pegfilgrastim (a 'steroid') to 're-boot' and/or boost white blood cell and lymphocyte production that was hammered by the Chemo...end of joke...and another positive application of an otherwise maligned drug...(isn't alcohol a drug?-Ed)...absolutely...(and doesn't it also have specific medical applications?-Ed)...again, yes...
Minister For Cities: Prime Minister Rudd is apparently considering introducing this new raft of bureaucracy...and about time, because I've always said that in South Australia there's not enough focus on Adelaide...(sarcasm?-Ed)...yes, the Sar Chasm...that gaping abyss between the reality of Adelaide's self-absorbed obsession with itself and what everyone else in the state experiences...which segues unfortunately into...
Patient Assistance Transport Scheme: Health Minister Jack 'The Rat' Snelling is going to adjust the eligibility criteria so that less people...(less?-Ed)...yes, so less people can access the unchanged funding pool...that is, not more money for country patients who have to travel to Adelaide for treatment, or, for example, to Mt Gambier for child-birth or even just an appointment.
Jack Snelling states that the criteria will be moved from 100kms travel to 150kms to deliberately 'disallow' more people and therefore free up the current funding to be spent on less people...and according to Jack that fixes the problem by making the PATS more equitable...absolute bullshit from a Rann/Weatherill Labor government that has written off Regional SA.
Please refer previous post re the Privatisation of SA Health...that's where all the money is going...and the new Ambulance Station has stalled due to 'soil issues' and is predicted to open about the time of the March 2014 election, which will coincidentally provide MP Don Pegler the opportunity to spruik it as one of 'his achievements'...and the 2011 $27million Hospital Expansion still hasn't been organised with the buildings owner...so that's all moving ahead nicely...
And onto the issue of Sport as News...and why this is happening and why it's a concern...(yes, I agree that it is happening, but why?-Ed)...in a word, 'Distraction'...distraction from (and 'dumbing down' of) the entire news cycle...I don't have a problem with the rear 1/4 of a paper or news service being dedicated to sport because sport is a major part of our societal structure, but enough is enough and everything in it's place...
Sports results and relevant 'news' gets all the coverage they need without being dragged onto the front page in place of more worthy issues, eg, Foreign Land Ownership, Mental Health Issues...(but I don't have a problem with the occasional Commemorative Grand Final covers and that sort of thing-Ed)...no, absolutely, sport is an important social issue often to be celebrated, but it should not replace news.
Recently The Border Watch ran many stories and/or front pages re local horse races, and whilst that is an important issue for many people, there are many other issues they could have dedicated that column space too...for example, say, the DeBelle Inquiry and Federal Royal Commission and how the Child Abuse Cover-up at St Martins Lutheran School show these to be empty rhetoric...(I knew you could get that in there somehow-Ed)...well, it's the Elephant shaped room full of Elephant shaped furniture covered in Elephant hide, all pushed to the walls by a ceiling-high pile of rotting Elephant carcasses...(carci?...the plural of carcass?-Ed)...
As per previous post, TBW does excellent work in extensively covering women's sports, but all of this can stay 'at the rear' with the footy and the geegees and the dishlickers, etc...and keep the news pages for the actual news.
Anyhoos...in my opinion, there is a concerted effort to counter the proliferation of 'Social Media News Sites' and the resultant dissemination of unflattering news items by dragging the entire news cycle away from certain issues and deliberately creating outrage and expenditure of time and energy on relatively irrelevant issues...and sport is very convenient...it's always happening somewhere.
Even this morning, ABC News 24 and ABC 1 were repeatedly running sections of a long interview/story about the Peptides issue in the NRL (Rugby League) and banning of a player for use and/or dealing of these apparently restricted 'Performance Enhancing Drugs'...and other media also are covering it extensively...and of course the Essendon 'Crisis' dominates all...
Also, most of the discussion is about the 'cheating' aspects of the drug use and very little time is spent on the health issues of unmonitored drug use, particularly 'combination use' of various substances that are individually problematic and poorly understood...this was acknowledged, however, with the death of a Rugby League player (last year?) directly linked to his use of PEDs.
There is the 'Reverse Justification' idea that the AFL, NRL, etc, are forcing their sports into the mainstream news cycle to gain attention and self-promote...(I'm not sure that stories about drug misuse, salary cap rorting, pack rape, and other such niceties are really going to move your sport forward-Ed)...exactly...
But some say there is no such thing as bad publicity...(oh, don't start with the Oscar Wilde...you're going to do the Oscar Wilde aren't you?-Ed)...there is only one thing worse than being talked about...(dear god-Ed)...and that's not being talked about...thank you...
And never forget that sport is a multi-billion dollar industry that looks always to promote and protect it's own self-interests...but that's a whole 'nother post.
Tomorrow: Pools, Mills, and Automobiles
From flooding to funding, from ponds to funding, from potholes to...um...(funding?-Ed)..yeah, that'll do...
Confused?...yeah, so am I...so hopefully I'll have something figured out by tomorrow...hopefully...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Yet More Wind Turbine Spin
Hello world...welcome to the blog...two weeks into the 'official' election campaign and only 10 days to go to the actual vote...and I ain't Robinson Crusoe in struggling to give a damn...again during last night's debate I found myself 'drifting off' and even channel-surfing...
It's hugely problematic when you don't trust and/or believe what either Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or opposition Liberal leader Tony Abbott have to say...Labor have a demonstrated capacity to lie about policy direction and/or implementation and to get things horribly wrong, eg, Budget and Surplus claims vs the realities...
And the Liberals have already flagged a 'Review Committee' whilst still not fully disclosing their costings and 'savings measures'...(which is code for Cuts, yeah?-Ed)...pretty much...and unfortunately can use Labor's erroneous Fiscal forecasts and policy announcement roller coaster to justify holding back...'we can't say until after the election and see the actual numbers'...
A Partial Correction and Full Apology: In a previous post I stated that Federal election candidates only get their Nomination deposits returned if they garner 4% of the primary vote, which is true, but there is also the allowance for 'Electoral Funding' once a candidate meets that 4% criteria, and this is calculated per first preference vote.
I originally thought that this 'Funding' only applied to formally elected members, but it does apply to all candidates as above...I apologise unreservedly for this unintentional error, and it makes no difference to my attempt to nominate because I never expected to receive even 4%, I was simply trying to be part of the Democratic process...(so much to learn-Ed)...indeed...
Which reminds me that I have still not received any response re my letters to the Electoral Commission.
Quick Notes: 1) Adelaide gets 5th behind Melbourne at no1 for world's most livable cities...but you know that doesn't consider the economic and social implications for the rest of the state...(and it wouldn't surprise me if they stood on North Tce to do their calculations-Ed)...
2) National's leader Warren Truss launches 'Fair Share Fund' of $1billion to be invested in Regional Australia plus $100m for research and Labor candidate for Barker Phil Golding says $1billion has already been invested by Federal Labor over recent years.
3) Uni SA states that it will increase services in Mt Gambier and other regions, but this could be mostly 'online', and TAFE continues to axe courses and jobs at their Mt Gambier campus, the most recent being Arts courses.
The Turbine Stuff: Rather than completely repeat previous posts re Wind Turbines, please review if unread...the issues remain the same...and have yet again been trotted out following windy conditions in South East SA, this time by the Conservation Council.
Mr Tim Kelly of the CC was on ABC Afternoon making extraordinary claims about energy production figures, electricity costs, etc, off the back of another report/press release/whatevs from the Clean Energy Council...(the CEC is a 'Renewable Energy' Industry lobby group, ie, officially pro-Turbine-Ed)...indeed...and Mr Kelly may be completely genuine in his intent, but his information is grossly biased and incorrect...
And this continues the pattern of behaviour where these organisations, developers, Labor government, etc, make outrageous unsupported statements and then furiously cross-reference each other as being factual and even scientific proof and/or support of their intensely biased pro-Turbine agenda...
Mr Kelly was gushingly congratulatory about the "record amounts" of electricity allegedly generated across SA during 'windy days in August', including "55% to 80%" of the states needs on certain days...but he neglected to mention how we generated our power on the several still, frosty nights that occurred in late July/early August...
This remains the fundamental and most critical failure of Turbines...they produce some energy when wind conditions are suitable, but if there is no wind...(or even if the wind is too strong-Ed)...less frequent but true...no wind means no production and that demands immediately available 100% Back-up Generation, eg, coal fired power stations, or as in Britain, huge banks of heavily subsidised diesel generators sitting idle until needed...
Liberal supporter 'shock-jock' Alan Jones is absolutely rabid about Turbines, frequently criticising them for a range of reasons, and while I don't particularly agree with his base motivations, eg, scepticism on 'Climate Change', his 'factual commentary' is fairly accurate...only days ago he cited the situation in SA where we have a coal-fired power station at Pt Augusta on permanent standby for when the wind stops.
Mr Jones didn't mention the 'Exporting/Importing Agenda' where we send electricity across to the Eastern states when windy, and then have to import Victorian coal-fired power station electricity when the wind stops, another aspect of the undeniable non-reliability of Wind generation...(and he also acknowledges this gross non-reliability with his own figures-Ed)...how so?...
(Well, when he says "55%" on some days and "up to 80%" on other days, he is specifically quantifying the daily, massive fluctuations in generation that are completely at the mercy of the weather, and that put a huge strain on distribution infrastructure with this 'Surge and Purge' generation, and also creates the demand for 'back-ups'-Ed)...well put sir...
Mr Kelly also failed to relate this "record" production to the increasing number of Turbines in SA...more Turbines more power... it ain't rocket science...
He then went on to claim that Turbines are the cheapest electricity available, which is just ludicrous...they receive massive taxpayer funded subsidies, we pay for their 'poles and wires' infrastructure, and SA currently has the second highest electricity prices on the planet...there are several reasons for this, eg, price gouging by generators and wholesalers, contractual obligations with Victoria, etc, but it is the reliance on Turbines that underpins most of the cost.
At one point he stated that SA already has 33% production from Turbines, but then said we need to work toward our 20/20 obligations (20% by 2020) and increase to 30% by 2030...I'm sorry, but I didn't follow this part at all...he seemed to be just throwing around 'factual numbers' but not in the relevant context and/or in conflict with each other...(he might have been confusing National and State figures and aspirations-Ed)...possibly, don't know...
What I found most concerning was his enthusiasm for "the next 30%" of generation that was directly linked to his (some one's) call for extensive Turbine development on the Eyre Peninsula...this would be a disaster...
This raises all the issues of 'remote generation' and associated losses through distribution, etc, and the most fundamental problems of increased reliance on 'part-time production' as above.
Again, this is only a small part of the problems with Turbines so please review my previous posts, and again I apologise for the error re 'Electoral Funding'.
Tomorrow: Drugs and Corruption in Sport
Increasingly sport has become part of the 'main stream' news cycle, and nothing drives that more than a bit of drugs, corruption, and/or other controversy...lovely...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
It's hugely problematic when you don't trust and/or believe what either Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or opposition Liberal leader Tony Abbott have to say...Labor have a demonstrated capacity to lie about policy direction and/or implementation and to get things horribly wrong, eg, Budget and Surplus claims vs the realities...
And the Liberals have already flagged a 'Review Committee' whilst still not fully disclosing their costings and 'savings measures'...(which is code for Cuts, yeah?-Ed)...pretty much...and unfortunately can use Labor's erroneous Fiscal forecasts and policy announcement roller coaster to justify holding back...'we can't say until after the election and see the actual numbers'...
A Partial Correction and Full Apology: In a previous post I stated that Federal election candidates only get their Nomination deposits returned if they garner 4% of the primary vote, which is true, but there is also the allowance for 'Electoral Funding' once a candidate meets that 4% criteria, and this is calculated per first preference vote.
I originally thought that this 'Funding' only applied to formally elected members, but it does apply to all candidates as above...I apologise unreservedly for this unintentional error, and it makes no difference to my attempt to nominate because I never expected to receive even 4%, I was simply trying to be part of the Democratic process...(so much to learn-Ed)...indeed...
Which reminds me that I have still not received any response re my letters to the Electoral Commission.
Quick Notes: 1) Adelaide gets 5th behind Melbourne at no1 for world's most livable cities...but you know that doesn't consider the economic and social implications for the rest of the state...(and it wouldn't surprise me if they stood on North Tce to do their calculations-Ed)...
2) National's leader Warren Truss launches 'Fair Share Fund' of $1billion to be invested in Regional Australia plus $100m for research and Labor candidate for Barker Phil Golding says $1billion has already been invested by Federal Labor over recent years.
3) Uni SA states that it will increase services in Mt Gambier and other regions, but this could be mostly 'online', and TAFE continues to axe courses and jobs at their Mt Gambier campus, the most recent being Arts courses.
The Turbine Stuff: Rather than completely repeat previous posts re Wind Turbines, please review if unread...the issues remain the same...and have yet again been trotted out following windy conditions in South East SA, this time by the Conservation Council.
Mr Tim Kelly of the CC was on ABC Afternoon making extraordinary claims about energy production figures, electricity costs, etc, off the back of another report/press release/whatevs from the Clean Energy Council...(the CEC is a 'Renewable Energy' Industry lobby group, ie, officially pro-Turbine-Ed)...indeed...and Mr Kelly may be completely genuine in his intent, but his information is grossly biased and incorrect...
And this continues the pattern of behaviour where these organisations, developers, Labor government, etc, make outrageous unsupported statements and then furiously cross-reference each other as being factual and even scientific proof and/or support of their intensely biased pro-Turbine agenda...
Mr Kelly was gushingly congratulatory about the "record amounts" of electricity allegedly generated across SA during 'windy days in August', including "55% to 80%" of the states needs on certain days...but he neglected to mention how we generated our power on the several still, frosty nights that occurred in late July/early August...
This remains the fundamental and most critical failure of Turbines...they produce some energy when wind conditions are suitable, but if there is no wind...(or even if the wind is too strong-Ed)...less frequent but true...no wind means no production and that demands immediately available 100% Back-up Generation, eg, coal fired power stations, or as in Britain, huge banks of heavily subsidised diesel generators sitting idle until needed...
Liberal supporter 'shock-jock' Alan Jones is absolutely rabid about Turbines, frequently criticising them for a range of reasons, and while I don't particularly agree with his base motivations, eg, scepticism on 'Climate Change', his 'factual commentary' is fairly accurate...only days ago he cited the situation in SA where we have a coal-fired power station at Pt Augusta on permanent standby for when the wind stops.
Mr Jones didn't mention the 'Exporting/Importing Agenda' where we send electricity across to the Eastern states when windy, and then have to import Victorian coal-fired power station electricity when the wind stops, another aspect of the undeniable non-reliability of Wind generation...(and he also acknowledges this gross non-reliability with his own figures-Ed)...how so?...
(Well, when he says "55%" on some days and "up to 80%" on other days, he is specifically quantifying the daily, massive fluctuations in generation that are completely at the mercy of the weather, and that put a huge strain on distribution infrastructure with this 'Surge and Purge' generation, and also creates the demand for 'back-ups'-Ed)...well put sir...
Mr Kelly also failed to relate this "record" production to the increasing number of Turbines in SA...more Turbines more power... it ain't rocket science...
He then went on to claim that Turbines are the cheapest electricity available, which is just ludicrous...they receive massive taxpayer funded subsidies, we pay for their 'poles and wires' infrastructure, and SA currently has the second highest electricity prices on the planet...there are several reasons for this, eg, price gouging by generators and wholesalers, contractual obligations with Victoria, etc, but it is the reliance on Turbines that underpins most of the cost.
At one point he stated that SA already has 33% production from Turbines, but then said we need to work toward our 20/20 obligations (20% by 2020) and increase to 30% by 2030...I'm sorry, but I didn't follow this part at all...he seemed to be just throwing around 'factual numbers' but not in the relevant context and/or in conflict with each other...(he might have been confusing National and State figures and aspirations-Ed)...possibly, don't know...
What I found most concerning was his enthusiasm for "the next 30%" of generation that was directly linked to his (some one's) call for extensive Turbine development on the Eyre Peninsula...this would be a disaster...
This raises all the issues of 'remote generation' and associated losses through distribution, etc, and the most fundamental problems of increased reliance on 'part-time production' as above.
Again, this is only a small part of the problems with Turbines so please review my previous posts, and again I apologise for the error re 'Electoral Funding'.
Tomorrow: Drugs and Corruption in Sport
Increasingly sport has become part of the 'main stream' news cycle, and nothing drives that more than a bit of drugs, corruption, and/or other controversy...lovely...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Just Stuff and An Accurate Letter
Hello Switzerland, South Korea, and Romania...welcome to the blog...apologies for the self-indulgent, wallowing self-pity evident in some recent posts, but hopefully I have addressed the issue of my personal motivations for doing this blog...and thank you for putting up with me simpering dribblings...cheers y'all...(and apologies that this post isn't as advertised)...
Basically...I don't represent anyone or any group, nor do I receive any financial support other than the Disability Support Pension (for Agoraphobia, etc) which is in itself a self-perpetuating motivation for trying to be politically/socially active if not quite influential...(whaaa?-Ed)...I try to help the society that helps me, not least of all to assuage my own sense of guilt for being that burden...(ahh, come on big fella-Ed)...
And of course the personal motivations related to the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up (previous posts)...(yes,well...the more said about that the better-Ed)...
I was really pleased to run into an acquaintance whom I used to catch the bus with, and we were discussing the blog and that led to the 'Comments' about faking my Agoraphobia, etc, and they laughed and said 'just don't leave the house for 5 years'...and we shared a laugh that this is exactly the joke that I used in a previous post...(albeit you said 7 years-Ed)...indeed...
They were aware of my personal situation and some of the broader issues and were immediately critical of the anonymous 'Comments' in a witty and insightful manner...and we all love a bit of insightful wit...
I also enjoy insight sans wit...(insight for insight's sake-Ed)...exactly, and so to the excellent letter in The Border Watch Tuesday 27th August 2013 from a Ms Maree Thompson of Mt Gambier, 'Candidate's actions questioned' (attached....I've also left the letter re Parking Fines because it raises some relevant issues).
Whilst 'assuming' is sometimes problematic, it does not preclude 'hitting the nail on the head'...twice in fact...firstly, that it is totally inappropriate for Richard Sage to operate as both Grant District Council Mayor and an allegedly Independent candidate in the Federal election...and yes he has deliberately not put Barker on his posters so that he can use them again in the March 2014 state election...
What Ms Thompson hasn't specifically identified is that Mr Sage's refusal to stand down and the 'Barkerless' posters are indicators of the disingenuous nature of his involvement in the Federal contest...he is not running as a genuine candidate in the Federal election, he is at best setting himself up/being set up as another Labor stooge recruited from the Labor controlled and entirely compromised Grant District Council ahead of the 2014 state election...
This attempt to raise his profile for the state election has also been identified to me by others and I partly covered it in my post re 'Labor Announces Candidate'.
Some Things I Don't Understand:
1) People who are surprised that there are Drugs and/or Corruption in sport...where there's money and people you'll usually find both D and C...see Day After Tomorrow...
2) People who are surprised that Security Agencies, eg, the CIA (Criminal Intelligence Agency) monitor Interweb interactions, eg, emails, to gather information and try to prevent/intercept anti-social behaviours, eg, acts of 'terrorism'...
I know nothing about the Interweb, but I naturally assume that everything that goes between computers/servers/users can and will be monitored and most especially for these 'security reasons'...I have letters/emails from 10+ years ago that include a jumbled paragraph at the end with random words like 'nitrate' to deliberately trigger and clog-up the automated 'screening' programs being used by 'Security Services' at that time...
3) Giving millions more to Holden/GM to try and save some jobs in an industry that clearly cannot survive by itself, and particularly in the current political debate/climate where 'Free Trade' is the mantra and the altar and very nearly the deity...federal Labor's Free Trade obsession displays all the religious characteristics of having faith in an undefinable entity...
And the Weatherill state Labor government trots out 'saving the jobs' as an excuse to hand GM hundreds of millions of dollars, yet in the South East they sell off the local economy to fund the Adelaide Oval debacle...(you've been through all this before mate-Ed)...I know, but the sheer hypocrisy is just so demanding of attention...
And we went through this with Mitsubishi who were handed many millions of taxpayer dollars to protect jobs and then closed down their Lonsdale/Clovelly Pk factory anyway, and sold the equipment to the Chinese, who flew workers in to dismantle and remove the plant and ship it all back to China...
4) Tony Abbott's/the Liberal plan to pay people $6,000 to move to the Regions for employment (and $3,000 per child)...but for what jobs?...surely appropriate investment in agriculture, health services and other development to create those jobs would be the first step.
A laudable move, but it does not acknowledge the current reality where Labor governments have been reefing services and the associated jobs out of Regional South Australia, eg, the Shared Services, axing of Drug and Alcohol Services, Mental Health Services, the Forestry Sale, etc...
In case nobody noticed, Mt Gambier and District is going backwards at a rate of knots, and as per previous posts, I believe that this is as much a fiscal necessity as an ideological pursuit...Labor cannot afford to spend anything outside of Adelaide even if they were interested in supporting Regional SA.
5) Apparently passenger numbers are down at Mt Gambier Airport and the Grant District Council is going to do a survey to find out why...(because REX has a monopoly and their fares are so ridiculously high because they can...there you go...no need to do a survey now-Ed)...indeed, but GDC CEO Trevor Smart suggests there are other reasons that need to be investigated...
And the excuses include that 'it is more expensive due to a lower demand' which doesn't explain how REX can have cheaper fares on small routes where they have competitors...
Please refer previous post re the Weatherill governments financial support for AirAsia...if we as a state have undisclosed funds* to hand to an external airline to help them, then why don't we have money to subsidise Regional airfares and/or legislation to stop this 'monopoly rorting'?...(*Mr Weatherill has refused to disclose just how much taxpayers money has been handed to AirAsia under 'Commercial Confidentiality')...
Tomorrow: Wind Turbines Latest
Day After Tomorrow: Sport is the New News
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog and I'm still trying...(very-Ed)...many a true word spoken in jest...
Basically...I don't represent anyone or any group, nor do I receive any financial support other than the Disability Support Pension (for Agoraphobia, etc) which is in itself a self-perpetuating motivation for trying to be politically/socially active if not quite influential...(whaaa?-Ed)...I try to help the society that helps me, not least of all to assuage my own sense of guilt for being that burden...(ahh, come on big fella-Ed)...
And of course the personal motivations related to the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up (previous posts)...(yes,well...the more said about that the better-Ed)...
I was really pleased to run into an acquaintance whom I used to catch the bus with, and we were discussing the blog and that led to the 'Comments' about faking my Agoraphobia, etc, and they laughed and said 'just don't leave the house for 5 years'...and we shared a laugh that this is exactly the joke that I used in a previous post...(albeit you said 7 years-Ed)...indeed...
They were aware of my personal situation and some of the broader issues and were immediately critical of the anonymous 'Comments' in a witty and insightful manner...and we all love a bit of insightful wit...
I also enjoy insight sans wit...(insight for insight's sake-Ed)...exactly, and so to the excellent letter in The Border Watch Tuesday 27th August 2013 from a Ms Maree Thompson of Mt Gambier, 'Candidate's actions questioned' (attached....I've also left the letter re Parking Fines because it raises some relevant issues).
Whilst 'assuming' is sometimes problematic, it does not preclude 'hitting the nail on the head'...twice in fact...firstly, that it is totally inappropriate for Richard Sage to operate as both Grant District Council Mayor and an allegedly Independent candidate in the Federal election...and yes he has deliberately not put Barker on his posters so that he can use them again in the March 2014 state election...
What Ms Thompson hasn't specifically identified is that Mr Sage's refusal to stand down and the 'Barkerless' posters are indicators of the disingenuous nature of his involvement in the Federal contest...he is not running as a genuine candidate in the Federal election, he is at best setting himself up/being set up as another Labor stooge recruited from the Labor controlled and entirely compromised Grant District Council ahead of the 2014 state election...
This attempt to raise his profile for the state election has also been identified to me by others and I partly covered it in my post re 'Labor Announces Candidate'.
Some Things I Don't Understand:
1) People who are surprised that there are Drugs and/or Corruption in sport...where there's money and people you'll usually find both D and C...see Day After Tomorrow...
2) People who are surprised that Security Agencies, eg, the CIA (Criminal Intelligence Agency) monitor Interweb interactions, eg, emails, to gather information and try to prevent/intercept anti-social behaviours, eg, acts of 'terrorism'...
I know nothing about the Interweb, but I naturally assume that everything that goes between computers/servers/users can and will be monitored and most especially for these 'security reasons'...I have letters/emails from 10+ years ago that include a jumbled paragraph at the end with random words like 'nitrate' to deliberately trigger and clog-up the automated 'screening' programs being used by 'Security Services' at that time...
3) Giving millions more to Holden/GM to try and save some jobs in an industry that clearly cannot survive by itself, and particularly in the current political debate/climate where 'Free Trade' is the mantra and the altar and very nearly the deity...federal Labor's Free Trade obsession displays all the religious characteristics of having faith in an undefinable entity...
And the Weatherill state Labor government trots out 'saving the jobs' as an excuse to hand GM hundreds of millions of dollars, yet in the South East they sell off the local economy to fund the Adelaide Oval debacle...(you've been through all this before mate-Ed)...I know, but the sheer hypocrisy is just so demanding of attention...
And we went through this with Mitsubishi who were handed many millions of taxpayer dollars to protect jobs and then closed down their Lonsdale/Clovelly Pk factory anyway, and sold the equipment to the Chinese, who flew workers in to dismantle and remove the plant and ship it all back to China...
4) Tony Abbott's/the Liberal plan to pay people $6,000 to move to the Regions for employment (and $3,000 per child)...but for what jobs?...surely appropriate investment in agriculture, health services and other development to create those jobs would be the first step.
A laudable move, but it does not acknowledge the current reality where Labor governments have been reefing services and the associated jobs out of Regional South Australia, eg, the Shared Services, axing of Drug and Alcohol Services, Mental Health Services, the Forestry Sale, etc...
In case nobody noticed, Mt Gambier and District is going backwards at a rate of knots, and as per previous posts, I believe that this is as much a fiscal necessity as an ideological pursuit...Labor cannot afford to spend anything outside of Adelaide even if they were interested in supporting Regional SA.
5) Apparently passenger numbers are down at Mt Gambier Airport and the Grant District Council is going to do a survey to find out why...(because REX has a monopoly and their fares are so ridiculously high because they can...there you go...no need to do a survey now-Ed)...indeed, but GDC CEO Trevor Smart suggests there are other reasons that need to be investigated...
And the excuses include that 'it is more expensive due to a lower demand' which doesn't explain how REX can have cheaper fares on small routes where they have competitors...
Please refer previous post re the Weatherill governments financial support for AirAsia...if we as a state have undisclosed funds* to hand to an external airline to help them, then why don't we have money to subsidise Regional airfares and/or legislation to stop this 'monopoly rorting'?...(*Mr Weatherill has refused to disclose just how much taxpayers money has been handed to AirAsia under 'Commercial Confidentiality')...
Tomorrow: Wind Turbines Latest
Day After Tomorrow: Sport is the New News
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog and I'm still trying...(very-Ed)...many a true word spoken in jest...
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Barker Candidates Forum and Other Stuff
Hello there and here, near and far, hope you are well wherever you are...and a slight misnomer in the title in that I didn't attend the Candidates Forum in Keith held on Friday night August 23rd so any observation re that meeting comes via other media, etc.
There were several reasons I didn't go, not least of all the 5hr, 430km round trip (and $50+ fuel bill) that is unfortunately a bridge too far for my little car that struggles to get to Pt McDonnell and back at 90kms/hr...(and is in many respects a metaphor for your entire life-Ed)...indeed...
As I've run myself into the ground trying to get out from under the dung-heap of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up via this blog, so is my little car on it's last legs...I'm one breakdown from not having a car at all...fortunately I'm used to personally breaking down every day already so that's not such a finite issue, but it's no way to live...that's merely existing...
And the last dregs of my superannuation are gone...that's it...just running a car is a massive expense that will soon be beyond me...registration and insurance run to over $1,000 per annum, which is roughly 1/12th of my Disability Support Pension income...and that doesn't include licensing, petrol, servicing, etc...owning and operating a vehicle is a societal luxury that many assume is their birth right.
Personally I think that everyone should be banned from using their car for a month and be forced onto public transport, and then maybe there might be more support for PT as a societal positive not an expendable burden...(and that too drives you, yeah?-Ed)...nice pun, but in a broader context, yes...
I'm no angel and I sure ain't noble, but I do seem to be afflicted with an unquenchable empathy for those whom find themselves effectively behind me...not beneath, behind...eg, those who cannot get proper accommodation, struggle with chronic Dental Health issues, Mental Health issues, rely on public Transport, are losing their businesses due to corrupted decisions from corrupted public officials, etc.
This defines my personal position in doing the blog at all...and comprehensively counters the criticism I have received about doing this blog for personal glory and/or gain and/or because I enjoy being nasty and criticising people, eg, the cowardly anonymous 'Comments' left on this blog.
I've tried to be absolutely upfront about my 'blogging' motivations and I think that to an objective observer those motivations are fairly self-defining and clearly evident in the content and the prose...it is all about me exorcising the demons of failure re St Martins, and venting the fury of a vaguely rational person in an institutionally insane society...
And not least of all, my child leaving Mt Gambier to attend Uni has really reefed the rug out from under me in that I have no reason to be here anymore...and nothing to keep me here...no job, no relationship, no social structure...not nothing, not no-one...and none of that looks set to change...and doing this blog simply isn't enough...
I genuinely appreciate the feedback 'off-blog' that I need to take some time off and focus on myself and try to re-engage with the world other than metaphorically yelling at it, but even that seems beyond me...if I get to mid-afternoon and I haven't posted something, I start to get anxious...at once hilarious and a clear indicator of the motivators...
And on that Friday it all came into harsh focus when I was wholly consumed by a massive rush of absolute indifference...and that's the underlying problem...if I no longer care about that which keeps me trying then the healthiest thing to do is to give up and not make myself sick aspiring to a society that no-one else seems interested in having...why bother?
And so Mt Gambier rots under the suffocating cloak of official retribution and Pariahtisation ruthlessly applied to protect the official malfeasance that has already been, and to allow for that to come...and it is coming...just look at City Council doubling their borrowing capacity to spend on ludicrous projects like the mindless re-paving of the Main Street.
And I know just exactly how jaded, frozen, even broken I am when it comes to pretty much everything outside of the Child Protection issues and Institutionalised Official Corruption, but even then I struggle to maintain balance...struggle and fail...and that's another reason to not attend last Friday...
All things being equal, even if I could have physically attended, I wouldn't have because I just didn't have the energy to be polite about it, and that had the potential to go horribly wrong...and I appreciate the advice to not go in that frame of mind...that the best thing to do was stay away...and good thing too...
I was absolutely stunned to hear on the ABC Local Radio the crowd of 80 people applauding those candidates who support continued discrimination against gay couples re marriage, and boo the candidates who expressed agreement with their parties support for equality...these people didn't go to educate themselves about the issues and candidates, they went to express their bigotries and ignorance...
And while that is their right in a Genuine Democracy, it is also my right to say shreking get over it and perhaps use some of that energy to 'strike up' at your corrupt public officials who are destroying your society, and not 'strike-out' at average people who are discriminated against simply for being gay...
Perhaps use your Christian energies to hold your Church officials to account for the systemic rape of children, and not to deride and dehumanise ordinary people simply for their sexual orientation...and there's the rub...I just want to scream at some of these people for what they choose to ignore whilst sitting in judgement of others...
And that segues nicely into our local officials support for the Child Abuse Cover-up at St Martins...the best they can manage is to blame me for their own corruption that they commit behind the protection of the pro-paedophile corruption of South Australia...corrupt people who are prepared to ignore St Martins so they can go about their own grubby, corrupt business...
Just listening to Council's Operations Manager (?) Daryl Sexton on ABC Radio talking about the sudden $750,000 state government Open Spaces 'grant' and how that is going to be used for the repaving which is apparently all about tourists and pedestrian/bike links to promote walking rather than driving to create a vibrant city centre blah, blah, blah...$1million+ blown on pointless paving, and everyone wants to know who is getting paid for those pavers...
I know I'm starting to drift, but I'm trying to maintain the rage on the page and get through my own apathy to return to and embrace the energy of empathy and move forward...(ohhh, I can't believe that you said 'moving forward'-Ed)...mmm, sorry 'bout that...
Tomorrow: The Wind Turbine Propaganda Machine Keeps Spinning
There are very few things that Radio announcer Alan Jones and I would agree on, but we both are absolutely rabid about Wind Turbines...and with good reason...and SA gets a special mention...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...for what it's worth...cheers and laters...
There were several reasons I didn't go, not least of all the 5hr, 430km round trip (and $50+ fuel bill) that is unfortunately a bridge too far for my little car that struggles to get to Pt McDonnell and back at 90kms/hr...(and is in many respects a metaphor for your entire life-Ed)...indeed...
As I've run myself into the ground trying to get out from under the dung-heap of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up via this blog, so is my little car on it's last legs...I'm one breakdown from not having a car at all...fortunately I'm used to personally breaking down every day already so that's not such a finite issue, but it's no way to live...that's merely existing...
And the last dregs of my superannuation are gone...that's it...just running a car is a massive expense that will soon be beyond me...registration and insurance run to over $1,000 per annum, which is roughly 1/12th of my Disability Support Pension income...and that doesn't include licensing, petrol, servicing, etc...owning and operating a vehicle is a societal luxury that many assume is their birth right.
Personally I think that everyone should be banned from using their car for a month and be forced onto public transport, and then maybe there might be more support for PT as a societal positive not an expendable burden...(and that too drives you, yeah?-Ed)...nice pun, but in a broader context, yes...
I'm no angel and I sure ain't noble, but I do seem to be afflicted with an unquenchable empathy for those whom find themselves effectively behind me...not beneath, behind...eg, those who cannot get proper accommodation, struggle with chronic Dental Health issues, Mental Health issues, rely on public Transport, are losing their businesses due to corrupted decisions from corrupted public officials, etc.
This defines my personal position in doing the blog at all...and comprehensively counters the criticism I have received about doing this blog for personal glory and/or gain and/or because I enjoy being nasty and criticising people, eg, the cowardly anonymous 'Comments' left on this blog.
I've tried to be absolutely upfront about my 'blogging' motivations and I think that to an objective observer those motivations are fairly self-defining and clearly evident in the content and the prose...it is all about me exorcising the demons of failure re St Martins, and venting the fury of a vaguely rational person in an institutionally insane society...
And not least of all, my child leaving Mt Gambier to attend Uni has really reefed the rug out from under me in that I have no reason to be here anymore...and nothing to keep me here...no job, no relationship, no social structure...not nothing, not no-one...and none of that looks set to change...and doing this blog simply isn't enough...
I genuinely appreciate the feedback 'off-blog' that I need to take some time off and focus on myself and try to re-engage with the world other than metaphorically yelling at it, but even that seems beyond me...if I get to mid-afternoon and I haven't posted something, I start to get anxious...at once hilarious and a clear indicator of the motivators...
And on that Friday it all came into harsh focus when I was wholly consumed by a massive rush of absolute indifference...and that's the underlying problem...if I no longer care about that which keeps me trying then the healthiest thing to do is to give up and not make myself sick aspiring to a society that no-one else seems interested in having...why bother?
And so Mt Gambier rots under the suffocating cloak of official retribution and Pariahtisation ruthlessly applied to protect the official malfeasance that has already been, and to allow for that to come...and it is coming...just look at City Council doubling their borrowing capacity to spend on ludicrous projects like the mindless re-paving of the Main Street.
And I know just exactly how jaded, frozen, even broken I am when it comes to pretty much everything outside of the Child Protection issues and Institutionalised Official Corruption, but even then I struggle to maintain balance...struggle and fail...and that's another reason to not attend last Friday...
All things being equal, even if I could have physically attended, I wouldn't have because I just didn't have the energy to be polite about it, and that had the potential to go horribly wrong...and I appreciate the advice to not go in that frame of mind...that the best thing to do was stay away...and good thing too...
I was absolutely stunned to hear on the ABC Local Radio the crowd of 80 people applauding those candidates who support continued discrimination against gay couples re marriage, and boo the candidates who expressed agreement with their parties support for equality...these people didn't go to educate themselves about the issues and candidates, they went to express their bigotries and ignorance...
And while that is their right in a Genuine Democracy, it is also my right to say shreking get over it and perhaps use some of that energy to 'strike up' at your corrupt public officials who are destroying your society, and not 'strike-out' at average people who are discriminated against simply for being gay...
Perhaps use your Christian energies to hold your Church officials to account for the systemic rape of children, and not to deride and dehumanise ordinary people simply for their sexual orientation...and there's the rub...I just want to scream at some of these people for what they choose to ignore whilst sitting in judgement of others...
And that segues nicely into our local officials support for the Child Abuse Cover-up at St Martins...the best they can manage is to blame me for their own corruption that they commit behind the protection of the pro-paedophile corruption of South Australia...corrupt people who are prepared to ignore St Martins so they can go about their own grubby, corrupt business...
Just listening to Council's Operations Manager (?) Daryl Sexton on ABC Radio talking about the sudden $750,000 state government Open Spaces 'grant' and how that is going to be used for the repaving which is apparently all about tourists and pedestrian/bike links to promote walking rather than driving to create a vibrant city centre blah, blah, blah...$1million+ blown on pointless paving, and everyone wants to know who is getting paid for those pavers...
I know I'm starting to drift, but I'm trying to maintain the rage on the page and get through my own apathy to return to and embrace the energy of empathy and move forward...(ohhh, I can't believe that you said 'moving forward'-Ed)...mmm, sorry 'bout that...
Tomorrow: The Wind Turbine Propaganda Machine Keeps Spinning
There are very few things that Radio announcer Alan Jones and I would agree on, but we both are absolutely rabid about Wind Turbines...and with good reason...and SA gets a special mention...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...for what it's worth...cheers and laters...
Monday, August 26, 2013
Revised Post: Council Passes Budget
Morning and hello...this revision is very timely given that Council is currently doing a Public Consultation about their Public Consultation Process...(how very PC of them-Ed)...Politically Correct Public Consultation...just perfect...
Given the escalating violence in Lebanon, reportedly as a result of various groups involvement in the Syrian 'Civil War'...(where 'Civil' has nothing to do with politeness-Ed)...and the sectarian violence threatening to tear Egypt apart and potentially take most of North Africa with it, yet another post about the insular, corrupted actions of Mt Gambier City Council seems a frivolous self-indulgence...
And I am still yet to receive any response re my letters/complaints/whatevs to the Electoral Commission and SAPol re the Nomination process and/or the gutless, anonymous slandering of 'Comments' left on my blog...and only the one response from Mark Keough (Greens) to my letter to candidates.
For some reason the Friday 6th July 2013 post 'Mt Gambier Council Passes Budget ...Surprise...' was 'pulled down' by NF McDonnell and Sons (Timber mill), but again I have received no notification so I don't know why, but I'll cover that small part first...
I referred to: an ABC Radio interview with Ian McDonnell on that Friday July 5th about the $4.3million Labor state government grant they had just received, and their plans to do an $11million expansion using that taxpayers money, and how good that is for them and their employees.
I also referenced the 'special extended log contracts' that far exceed others, receiving $4.3m from a grants round totalling $8.6m, Ian McDonnell's role on the Forestry Roundtable...(and it's successor the Forestry Consultation Board or whatever it's called-Ed)...and how that FR was used to stifle and undermine genuine opposition to the Forestry Sale (also in previous posts).
There is no question that NF McDonnell and Sons are receiving preferential treatment from the Weatherill government, and it is my opinion that this is being done to make other businesses look bad as they suffer due to the Forestry Sale, as per my post The Judas Goat of South East Forestry.
This is a slightly 'politer' version of the removed post, but it is still the same issues about the closeness of the relationship between Labor and NF McDonnell...and the rest was just a re-hashing of the Council Budget process...
Starting with a scathing observation about the cold, wet, windy weather that morning (July 5th 2013) and how it rendered useless the $250,000 Bus Shelter at the Lady Nelson, which when combined with the $90,000 Council spent on an 'open' toilet block, on the opposite side of the carpark to the shelter, means that Council have wasted $350,000 on a pointless shelter and toilets in the wrong place.
And the construction of the 'Shelter' has the pillars right next to the road so that buses have to park in specific positions to be able to get their passenger and luggage doors open, and this means that only 2 buses can fit under the 'Shelter'...and the other side of the bus is still completely open to the weather...and the glass panelling is almost useless and serves only to completely clutter the loading/unloading area, etc.
It looks like the most fundamental issues of design and functionality have been ignored or never even considered in Council's obsessive rush to just bang up something, anything, regardless, to ensure that the 'Shelter' issue is crushed and there is no more unpleasant talk of a centrally located Terminus on or at the Old Rail Lands...and this is of course to allow for the Rail Lands Retail Agenda as discussed in previous posts.
In the removed post this was followed by another serve at current Dual CEO Greg Muller and the damage he has done with his RLRA obsession let alone his ratepayer funded 'working holiday' as an entirely unnecessary burden on their rates, etc, in a position created solely for him so that he can just sit there and keep the whole sorry mess under his specific control...
Which naturally led to another bout of 'Where's the missing $350,000?' that Greg Muller took without authorisation re the Main Corner project, and that remains unaccounted for...it is perfectly legitimate to ask just how many decimal points are added to the latest rate-rise to finance Greg Muller's position.
To self-quote;
"I haven't imagined the reality of what has happened with Ian McDonnell and Greg Muller, nor have I sort in anyway to misrepresent the facts as I understand them...These are realities. I am not just trying to be sensationalist or controversial...if I could find a politer word than corrupt I would...I may well be venting, but I'm certainly not inventing...(nice-Ed)...
And now City Council has made all the noises, done all the dances, tooted all the horns, rung all the bells, and payed relentless, vacuous lip-service to 'Public Consultation' re the 2013/14 Budget.
They have gone through all the motions with absolutely no intention of doing anything other than what they wanted in the first instance."
The rest just runs over the same ground re how Council drew out the 'Consultation Process' to exhaust the Budget opposition and then loaded up the last meetings with mates and former Councillors, and how complicit The Border Watch was in playing down this opposition with stories about 'how much Council is listening', etc...
Please review previous posts on the 'Consultation' and 'Budget' issues for a more thorough coverage.
In news closer to home it appears that I was prematurely celebrating getting some proper sleep, because the last few nights I've gone to bed early-ish but woken at around 4am...bright as a very tired, pissed-off button...very, very annoying...
And I've got that lovely post dentist head-throb...(lovely?-Ed)...yes, because I'd rather have that than the pre-dentist head-throbs I've experienced a couple of times in recent years...(fair enough-Ed)...and I was dead set lucky to get an appointment at all...which I'll cover in a future post along with other Dental issues.
And apologies for what I consider some fairly average posts over recent weeks as I attempt to find the middle ground between metaphoric furious flailing and punchy professionalism, between bearing witness and bare-faced witlessness...somewhere between running flat out on empty and running out of empathy...somewhere between what this blog does for me, and what it does to me...
As per previous posts, the June long weekend anniversary of the 'removal' of teacher Glyn Dorling from St Martins Lutheran School in June 2002, always has a drastic effect on me...the difference this year is that it has not relented...and the most obvious thing I can think of is that doing this blog does not allow me the luxury of time and distance to 'recover', and so it continues...c'est la vie...it is so and so be it...
Tomorrow: Federal Election Issues
Just listening to an 'experienced commentator' call this 'the most boring Federal Election campaign ever.'
And random numbers are being furiously flung hither, dither, and yon...accompanied by accusations and denials, promises and smiles...and both of those last two empty...(nice-Ed)...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
Given the escalating violence in Lebanon, reportedly as a result of various groups involvement in the Syrian 'Civil War'...(where 'Civil' has nothing to do with politeness-Ed)...and the sectarian violence threatening to tear Egypt apart and potentially take most of North Africa with it, yet another post about the insular, corrupted actions of Mt Gambier City Council seems a frivolous self-indulgence...
And I am still yet to receive any response re my letters/complaints/whatevs to the Electoral Commission and SAPol re the Nomination process and/or the gutless, anonymous slandering of 'Comments' left on my blog...and only the one response from Mark Keough (Greens) to my letter to candidates.
For some reason the Friday 6th July 2013 post 'Mt Gambier Council Passes Budget ...Surprise...' was 'pulled down' by NF McDonnell and Sons (Timber mill), but again I have received no notification so I don't know why, but I'll cover that small part first...
I referred to: an ABC Radio interview with Ian McDonnell on that Friday July 5th about the $4.3million Labor state government grant they had just received, and their plans to do an $11million expansion using that taxpayers money, and how good that is for them and their employees.
I also referenced the 'special extended log contracts' that far exceed others, receiving $4.3m from a grants round totalling $8.6m, Ian McDonnell's role on the Forestry Roundtable...(and it's successor the Forestry Consultation Board or whatever it's called-Ed)...and how that FR was used to stifle and undermine genuine opposition to the Forestry Sale (also in previous posts).
There is no question that NF McDonnell and Sons are receiving preferential treatment from the Weatherill government, and it is my opinion that this is being done to make other businesses look bad as they suffer due to the Forestry Sale, as per my post The Judas Goat of South East Forestry.
This is a slightly 'politer' version of the removed post, but it is still the same issues about the closeness of the relationship between Labor and NF McDonnell...and the rest was just a re-hashing of the Council Budget process...
Starting with a scathing observation about the cold, wet, windy weather that morning (July 5th 2013) and how it rendered useless the $250,000 Bus Shelter at the Lady Nelson, which when combined with the $90,000 Council spent on an 'open' toilet block, on the opposite side of the carpark to the shelter, means that Council have wasted $350,000 on a pointless shelter and toilets in the wrong place.
And the construction of the 'Shelter' has the pillars right next to the road so that buses have to park in specific positions to be able to get their passenger and luggage doors open, and this means that only 2 buses can fit under the 'Shelter'...and the other side of the bus is still completely open to the weather...and the glass panelling is almost useless and serves only to completely clutter the loading/unloading area, etc.
It looks like the most fundamental issues of design and functionality have been ignored or never even considered in Council's obsessive rush to just bang up something, anything, regardless, to ensure that the 'Shelter' issue is crushed and there is no more unpleasant talk of a centrally located Terminus on or at the Old Rail Lands...and this is of course to allow for the Rail Lands Retail Agenda as discussed in previous posts.
In the removed post this was followed by another serve at current Dual CEO Greg Muller and the damage he has done with his RLRA obsession let alone his ratepayer funded 'working holiday' as an entirely unnecessary burden on their rates, etc, in a position created solely for him so that he can just sit there and keep the whole sorry mess under his specific control...
Which naturally led to another bout of 'Where's the missing $350,000?' that Greg Muller took without authorisation re the Main Corner project, and that remains unaccounted for...it is perfectly legitimate to ask just how many decimal points are added to the latest rate-rise to finance Greg Muller's position.
To self-quote;
"I haven't imagined the reality of what has happened with Ian McDonnell and Greg Muller, nor have I sort in anyway to misrepresent the facts as I understand them...These are realities. I am not just trying to be sensationalist or controversial...if I could find a politer word than corrupt I would...I may well be venting, but I'm certainly not inventing...(nice-Ed)...
And now City Council has made all the noises, done all the dances, tooted all the horns, rung all the bells, and payed relentless, vacuous lip-service to 'Public Consultation' re the 2013/14 Budget.
They have gone through all the motions with absolutely no intention of doing anything other than what they wanted in the first instance."
The rest just runs over the same ground re how Council drew out the 'Consultation Process' to exhaust the Budget opposition and then loaded up the last meetings with mates and former Councillors, and how complicit The Border Watch was in playing down this opposition with stories about 'how much Council is listening', etc...
Please review previous posts on the 'Consultation' and 'Budget' issues for a more thorough coverage.
In news closer to home it appears that I was prematurely celebrating getting some proper sleep, because the last few nights I've gone to bed early-ish but woken at around 4am...bright as a very tired, pissed-off button...very, very annoying...
And I've got that lovely post dentist head-throb...(lovely?-Ed)...yes, because I'd rather have that than the pre-dentist head-throbs I've experienced a couple of times in recent years...(fair enough-Ed)...and I was dead set lucky to get an appointment at all...which I'll cover in a future post along with other Dental issues.
And apologies for what I consider some fairly average posts over recent weeks as I attempt to find the middle ground between metaphoric furious flailing and punchy professionalism, between bearing witness and bare-faced witlessness...somewhere between running flat out on empty and running out of empathy...somewhere between what this blog does for me, and what it does to me...
As per previous posts, the June long weekend anniversary of the 'removal' of teacher Glyn Dorling from St Martins Lutheran School in June 2002, always has a drastic effect on me...the difference this year is that it has not relented...and the most obvious thing I can think of is that doing this blog does not allow me the luxury of time and distance to 'recover', and so it continues...c'est la vie...it is so and so be it...
Tomorrow: Federal Election Issues
Just listening to an 'experienced commentator' call this 'the most boring Federal Election campaign ever.'
And random numbers are being furiously flung hither, dither, and yon...accompanied by accusations and denials, promises and smiles...and both of those last two empty...(nice-Ed)...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
Sunday, August 25, 2013
TFTIM: ABC's Ian Henschke
Hello China, Switzerland, Portugal, and Malaysia...just to break it up a bit and/or rather than work myself into a lather again over just how much City Council has rooted Mt Gambier in the last decade, this little gem...
Lauded, applauded, and highly respected Mr Henschke (spelling?) is just another Adelaide media luminary whom is personally aware of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up Issue, because I did tell it at him...(at him?-Ed)...and whom has been directed and/or chosen to ignore it...(so that's Frank Pangello, Simon Royal, Ian Henschke...any others?-Ed)...well, yeah, pretty much all of them...Melvin Mansell, Matt Abraham and David Bevan...
(To be fair, Matt and Dave did give you 6-8 minutes on air to specifically discuss St Martins immediately prior to their 'Candidates Radio Forum' in March 2010, so they haven't so much ignored it as just done nothing about it since-Ed)...fair enough, but it has the same outcome...the Cover-up continues...
But you're right, that is different to the local ABC, TBW, etc, who have repeatedly turned me away with 'come back when something happens' promises that by definition of the passage of time have proven to be wholly untruths...(untruths you say-Ed)...
This 'excuse' was constantly used throughout 2008-11 specific to the parliamentary Statutory Authorities Review Committee Inquiry into the Teachers Registration Board, where I was repeatedly refused air-time or any discussion of St Martins with the promise that 'we'll do something when the Inquiry concludes'.
Never happened...even when the SARC Inquiry handed down it's report, SARC Report no54, that repeatedly references 'the school in Mt Gambier' and cites testimony from several families, etc...and unless I somehow missed it, not one word in the local media, not the ABC or The Border Watch or WIN TV, all of whom effectively refused to even acknowledge the Inquiry existed...(but why?-Ed)...
Because it conflicted with their official compliance with the Cover-up, and the concurrent line that Nick Fletcher is the only genuine problem...(you know it's not particularly healthy and definitely naff to refer to oneself in the third person-Ed)...yes, Nick Fletcher is aware of that...(ahahaha-Ed)...
This is the exact same dual 'character assassination/denial' agenda as witnessed with the 'Comments' left on this blog, an agenda that long ago morphed into a self-excusing narrative along the lines of 'it's alright to treat Nick Fletcher atrociously as we ignore the reality of what he is saying'...that is, we can both ignore St Martins and assuage our collective guilt, if we just blame Nick Fletcher for all of it...so let's all do that then...
And that's why I do this blog.
And then when the Royal Commission was announced in late 2012, only days after I circulated a long letter re St Martins Cover-up and the involvement of various politicians up to and including then (2007) Education Minister Julia Gillard (Prime Minister in 2012), and MP Patrick Secker went on the ABC Radio and himself cited 'the sorry situation in Mt Gambier that I wrote to Julia Gillard about'...even then the Mt Gambier media refused to acknowledge it...
(And I thought the Fourth Estate was meant to rock the boat, not toe-the-line-Ed)...only if that means not upsetting their own little gravy trains...Mt Gambier, and Adelaide for that matter, are so thoroughly 'locked down' that nobody is going to go against the grain...and that grain includes ignoring the abuse at St Martins and the associated cover-up to the point that the entire local media are complicit...
And that's why I do this blog.
But what genuinely saddens me is that I believe that the majority of these people are not 'gravy trainers' but perfectly decent, reasonable human beings unfortunately obliged to function to a specific agenda...and that agenda very specifically includes not tackling the St Martins Issue...
And that 'reverse segues' into the issue of Adelaide's sex-offenders getting dumped in Mt Gambier (in previous posts), and how that has been politely acknowledged but not truthfully addressed, and even then only as the first new prisoners are arriving...but I digress...
And then it's also Nick Fletcher's fault that after years of politely negotiating around the gross failure of the local media and their bias and abuse, he finally snaps and starts doing a blog and...(yes, we know; that's why you do this blog-Ed)...well, yes...sorry, more digressing...
In previous posts I've covered various aspects of my Cancer treatment 2004/05 and the St Martins Issue and how the congruence of these two issues led to me being in Parliament House for a good part of the March/April/May 2005 shenanigans that led to the resignation/political assassination of Speaker Peter Lewis.
It was at this time (early May) that I first actually met Ian Henschke after having spoken with him over the phone several times in September/October 2004 re St Martins...the Child Protection Activists operating with the Speaker Peter Lewis had provided him parents contact details.
I know the next bit is somewhat vague, but I never saw the actual contents of the referenced letter/fax/email (?), only the look on Ian Henschke's face as he came to terms with what it said/proved...namely, that phone calls from the Speakers land phone line were being monitored/recorded/whatevs...(or the office was bugged-Ed)...well, possible but not likely...much easier to just monitor the lines I'd have thought...
Apparently several agencies/people received 'leave it alone' emails/faxes (?) either from the police or Crown Solicitor or some other authority in South Australia (? sorry) immediately following contacts made by Peter Lewis or from his office...again, sorry to be so vague but because much of this stuff was done 'In Confidence' I was often outside in the corridor dozing off some Radiotherapy on the lovely chaise lounge.
All I know is that these calls were made from the land line in the Speakers office, and at least one of these agencies/people sent a copy of this fax/email to Peter Lewis, and that was then put in front of Mr Henschke during a break in an interview done in Parliament House...and it was pointed out to him the times on the emails/faxes (?)...and that the original fax/email was sent whilst the phone call it referred to was still happening...
Bizarre I know...and I did not see the letter myself...but I stood a metre away from Mr Henschke as he read through it again and again...and watched his furrowed brow soften as he worked out that the timing was wrong and then immediately re-furrow as he cross-referenced the times...and soften and re-furrow...soften and re-furrow...to the point that he was pointing at each bit and muttering under his breath...it was vaguely comical...
'But the email/fax says that the call was at...and the email/fax was sent...but wait, that's on interstate time...oh, no it's not...but wait, if you allow for...no hang on that's the time that it was sent...' (paraphrase)...he went round and round for 2-3 minutes before finally conceding that it did appear that someone was somehow aware of the call while it was still being made from the Speakers office...
This was taken to other media but after initial interest I don't think anything happened...Peter Lewis was not particularly popular by that stage...
So there you go...I can't prove a word of it or be more specific because I just don't know, but what I can say is that I watched Mr Henschke work up a quiet sweat trying to work out the timing of that fax/email, only to reach the conclusion that he did...
My only conclusion is that maybe it had something to do with the Criminal Defamation case that was later
thrown at Peter Lewis and the others, but that is at best a guess...
Oh, and of course, Mr Henschke knows about St Martins...
Tomorrow: Revised Post re Council Consultation and Budget, Part II
Or some other stuff if I change my mind...or not...
Nick Fletcher is I, and this be his blog...and when I talk about how badly I've been treated, I never forget that there are other families involved who have been treated every bit as appallingly...laters...
Lauded, applauded, and highly respected Mr Henschke (spelling?) is just another Adelaide media luminary whom is personally aware of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up Issue, because I did tell it at him...(at him?-Ed)...and whom has been directed and/or chosen to ignore it...(so that's Frank Pangello, Simon Royal, Ian Henschke...any others?-Ed)...well, yeah, pretty much all of them...Melvin Mansell, Matt Abraham and David Bevan...
(To be fair, Matt and Dave did give you 6-8 minutes on air to specifically discuss St Martins immediately prior to their 'Candidates Radio Forum' in March 2010, so they haven't so much ignored it as just done nothing about it since-Ed)...fair enough, but it has the same outcome...the Cover-up continues...
But you're right, that is different to the local ABC, TBW, etc, who have repeatedly turned me away with 'come back when something happens' promises that by definition of the passage of time have proven to be wholly untruths...(untruths you say-Ed)...
This 'excuse' was constantly used throughout 2008-11 specific to the parliamentary Statutory Authorities Review Committee Inquiry into the Teachers Registration Board, where I was repeatedly refused air-time or any discussion of St Martins with the promise that 'we'll do something when the Inquiry concludes'.
Never happened...even when the SARC Inquiry handed down it's report, SARC Report no54, that repeatedly references 'the school in Mt Gambier' and cites testimony from several families, etc...and unless I somehow missed it, not one word in the local media, not the ABC or The Border Watch or WIN TV, all of whom effectively refused to even acknowledge the Inquiry existed...(but why?-Ed)...
Because it conflicted with their official compliance with the Cover-up, and the concurrent line that Nick Fletcher is the only genuine problem...(you know it's not particularly healthy and definitely naff to refer to oneself in the third person-Ed)...yes, Nick Fletcher is aware of that...(ahahaha-Ed)...
This is the exact same dual 'character assassination/denial' agenda as witnessed with the 'Comments' left on this blog, an agenda that long ago morphed into a self-excusing narrative along the lines of 'it's alright to treat Nick Fletcher atrociously as we ignore the reality of what he is saying'...that is, we can both ignore St Martins and assuage our collective guilt, if we just blame Nick Fletcher for all of it...so let's all do that then...
And that's why I do this blog.
And then when the Royal Commission was announced in late 2012, only days after I circulated a long letter re St Martins Cover-up and the involvement of various politicians up to and including then (2007) Education Minister Julia Gillard (Prime Minister in 2012), and MP Patrick Secker went on the ABC Radio and himself cited 'the sorry situation in Mt Gambier that I wrote to Julia Gillard about'...even then the Mt Gambier media refused to acknowledge it...
(And I thought the Fourth Estate was meant to rock the boat, not toe-the-line-Ed)...only if that means not upsetting their own little gravy trains...Mt Gambier, and Adelaide for that matter, are so thoroughly 'locked down' that nobody is going to go against the grain...and that grain includes ignoring the abuse at St Martins and the associated cover-up to the point that the entire local media are complicit...
And that's why I do this blog.
But what genuinely saddens me is that I believe that the majority of these people are not 'gravy trainers' but perfectly decent, reasonable human beings unfortunately obliged to function to a specific agenda...and that agenda very specifically includes not tackling the St Martins Issue...
And that 'reverse segues' into the issue of Adelaide's sex-offenders getting dumped in Mt Gambier (in previous posts), and how that has been politely acknowledged but not truthfully addressed, and even then only as the first new prisoners are arriving...but I digress...
And then it's also Nick Fletcher's fault that after years of politely negotiating around the gross failure of the local media and their bias and abuse, he finally snaps and starts doing a blog and...(yes, we know; that's why you do this blog-Ed)...well, yes...sorry, more digressing...
In previous posts I've covered various aspects of my Cancer treatment 2004/05 and the St Martins Issue and how the congruence of these two issues led to me being in Parliament House for a good part of the March/April/May 2005 shenanigans that led to the resignation/political assassination of Speaker Peter Lewis.
It was at this time (early May) that I first actually met Ian Henschke after having spoken with him over the phone several times in September/October 2004 re St Martins...the Child Protection Activists operating with the Speaker Peter Lewis had provided him parents contact details.
I know the next bit is somewhat vague, but I never saw the actual contents of the referenced letter/fax/email (?), only the look on Ian Henschke's face as he came to terms with what it said/proved...namely, that phone calls from the Speakers land phone line were being monitored/recorded/whatevs...(or the office was bugged-Ed)...well, possible but not likely...much easier to just monitor the lines I'd have thought...
Apparently several agencies/people received 'leave it alone' emails/faxes (?) either from the police or Crown Solicitor or some other authority in South Australia (? sorry) immediately following contacts made by Peter Lewis or from his office...again, sorry to be so vague but because much of this stuff was done 'In Confidence' I was often outside in the corridor dozing off some Radiotherapy on the lovely chaise lounge.
All I know is that these calls were made from the land line in the Speakers office, and at least one of these agencies/people sent a copy of this fax/email to Peter Lewis, and that was then put in front of Mr Henschke during a break in an interview done in Parliament House...and it was pointed out to him the times on the emails/faxes (?)...and that the original fax/email was sent whilst the phone call it referred to was still happening...
Bizarre I know...and I did not see the letter myself...but I stood a metre away from Mr Henschke as he read through it again and again...and watched his furrowed brow soften as he worked out that the timing was wrong and then immediately re-furrow as he cross-referenced the times...and soften and re-furrow...soften and re-furrow...to the point that he was pointing at each bit and muttering under his breath...it was vaguely comical...
'But the email/fax says that the call was at...and the email/fax was sent...but wait, that's on interstate time...oh, no it's not...but wait, if you allow for...no hang on that's the time that it was sent...' (paraphrase)...he went round and round for 2-3 minutes before finally conceding that it did appear that someone was somehow aware of the call while it was still being made from the Speakers office...
This was taken to other media but after initial interest I don't think anything happened...Peter Lewis was not particularly popular by that stage...
So there you go...I can't prove a word of it or be more specific because I just don't know, but what I can say is that I watched Mr Henschke work up a quiet sweat trying to work out the timing of that fax/email, only to reach the conclusion that he did...
My only conclusion is that maybe it had something to do with the Criminal Defamation case that was later
thrown at Peter Lewis and the others, but that is at best a guess...
Oh, and of course, Mr Henschke knows about St Martins...
Tomorrow: Revised Post re Council Consultation and Budget, Part II
Or some other stuff if I change my mind...or not...
Nick Fletcher is I, and this be his blog...and when I talk about how badly I've been treated, I never forget that there are other families involved who have been treated every bit as appallingly...laters...
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Revised Post: Council Budget Consultation
Hello y'all...welcome to the blog...and a 'Revisionary Post' that is a nice segue into current attempted propaganda from Council re their amazing Public Consultation processes...(that 'amazing' is sarcasm, right?-Ed)...absolutely...(damn I'm getting good at this-Ed)...
Oh, and a quick 'post script hindsight notification' that this post rapidly becomes more of a 'Venting Event' than an actual 'Visionary Revision', and ultimately leads to a Part II...
But quickly, I owe Senator Nick Xenophon a partial apology for claiming that I have received 'no response at all' to my various attempts to contact him, because I found in my emails a brief 'thanks, we'll get back to you' letter from one of his staffers from late last year (2012)...but no actual response or return of recent calls, emails, etc...so a partial apology.
And thank you to the Greens Mark Keough for being the only candidate for the seat of Barker to respond to my email/Open Letter as posted previously...
And a further quick apology for yesterday's shambolic post...I've been quite unwell for several months, literally running myself into the ground, not eating or sleeping properly, etc, and with the relative 'release' of not even being able to even Nominate for the Federal election it's all caught up with me.
I've slumped from a motivated participant to a hibernating cynic...from 5hrs sleep a day to 10, and constant metaphoric chewing over of a very large slice of 'Give A F***' Pie...(mmm, GAF Pie...the breakfast of Champions-Ed)...
I have spoken/written before about how doing this blog tramples the fine line between cathartic and catastrophic when it comes to my own mental health and well-being...and as always that translates itself into a physical manifestation...on more than one occasion, doing a post has cost me half a day in creation, and the rest of that day in recuperation.
And every day for 8 months now without respite, because it all constantly comes back to the paedophiles and how 'they' clearly run South Australia...starting with Premiers Mike Rann and Jay Weatherill and then on down...and always down...and the absolute corruption that this not just allows, but fosters and promotes...
It is no exaggeration to say that ultimately I find it slightly less depressing to run repeatedly and at speed into the coal face of Institutionalised Pro-paedophile Corruption that defines South Australian governance, than to stand back and just look at it...
How I envy those whom can look at this situation and then just turn their backs on it...including the long list of local luminaries, eg, Tony Pasin, Greg Muller, Steve Perryman, Don Pegler, Rory McEwen, the ABC, The Border Watch, etc, etc, etc, who all know about St Martins but chose to ignore it for their own gain...
(Well, except of course Rory didn't turn his back, he knowingly participated/s in the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up for his own personal financial gain-Ed)...well, absolutely...and by that definition, so have all involved personally profited from a conscious decision to be part of the cover-up.
Each and everyone of you is absolutely complicit in the Cover-up of the abuse of a class of 7 year old children...(and I'd say rot in hell for it, but I'd suggest you already are-Ed)...nicely put...have a good hard look around Mt Gambier and see a dying city for what it is...and largely thanks to corrupt public officials who ignore the St Martins issue so they can do their corrupt little land re-zonings and disastrous development projects for mutual profit while the rest of the town dies around them.
And that's what really pisses me off about Council's relentless self-congratulation and pompous posturing about what great work they do and how fantastically they 'Consult' with the public and let's give Merv White a prize for 25 years of rooting this town into the ground...yay...
Mt Gambier City Council is a Colonialist feudal throwback to the bad ol' days of self-important white boys carving everything up for themselves and in doing so rooting it all up for everyone else...and the law is a vacuous joke used to control the uppity plebeians...and the law doesn't apply to those causing the problems, the Councillors themselves.
And I offer as a perfect example the $350,000 that dual CEO Greg Muller took without approval from Council coffers and that remains unaccounted...(charming-Ed)...and what have his mates done to recover that money?...absolutely nothing...they've actually sought to excuse and protect him...absolute criminality from the entire Council.
Where's the outrage and the baying for blood and the 'where's our shreking money Greg?'...if this had happened in private business, Greg Muller would be facing charges for Theft and/or Fraud, and given the amount stolen, quite possibly jail time...
And there's The Border Watch right along for the ride, helping Greg and Council to cover-up this theft with ludicrous explanations about 'Fire-rating' and 'Window Insurance'...and then it all just quietly goes away...and even the Council's Auditor can't see it...and where are the police?...institutionalised corruption re the theft of $350,000 of rate-payers money...what a disgrace...
Evey single Planning, Re-zoning, and/or Development issue that has been through Council in the last few years is completely compromised by the gross Conflicts of Interests that are acknowledged when so many Councillors have to leave the chamber that they no longer have a quorum (previous posts), but even more so by those who don't leave.
Time and again, including at Council's meeting Tuesday 20th August 2013, Cr Des Mutton remains in the chamber voting on issues re liquor licences, Main Corner leasing, etc, even after Mayor Steve Perryman and Cr Andrew Lee have excused themselves.
I refer to previous posts about the extraordinary corruption and nepotism of Cr Mutton's son being given the Main Corner facility free of charge (initially) which then became a 'Peppercorn Lease'...and the previous 'Approval Processes' for massive expansions of the Main Corner Project rammed through Council without any 'Public Consultation'...the Commercial Kitchen, the Volcano Movie, and the lighting.
And who is it leading the call for a rate-payer funded cafe at the Old Hospital site?...(no, it couldn't be-Ed)...yes it damn well is; Cr Mutton...I have covered this in a previous post...and he's right in there voting for it in Council meetings...
And now Council is running a farcical 'Public Consultation' about how to improve their 'Public Consultation'...(no, seriously?-Ed)...absolutely...it is a self-perpetuating joke that writes itself...and there's the ad from Council in TBW Friday 16th August (attached) and as repeated yesterday 23rd August.
It is either bare-faced audacity to try and address the gross nepotism and self-serving decision processes of Council, or a validation of the observation that they are all borderline insane and just can't see how selfish and hypocritical their actions are...the whole thing is just so mind-boggling that I cannot decide which horse to back.
You'll excuse me if I just grind to a halt right about.......here...it genuinely saddens me to see the massive damage that successive Mt Gambier City Councils and it's constituent members have visited on the city, let alone the damage of the Forestry Sale, etc, and frankly I've had enough for one day...
Oh, but before I go...fantastic to see the already chipped and badly stained pavers getting laid along the Main at a cost of $1million+...they look absolutely disgusting...great work Council...and it's not like that money could have been better spent elsewhere...shrek me...
Tomorrow: RPCBC Part II
If you think today's post was the angry rantings of a three-lipped nit, then just wait for tomorrow...I don't know about 'Mojo', but I feel something coming back...and it ain't perty...
I am Nick Fletcher and in amongst the fury and the venting I do give a genuine shrek for my society, Mt Gambier and beyond, and that is why I will continue to do this here my bloggy thingy...cheers...
Oh, and a quick 'post script hindsight notification' that this post rapidly becomes more of a 'Venting Event' than an actual 'Visionary Revision', and ultimately leads to a Part II...
But quickly, I owe Senator Nick Xenophon a partial apology for claiming that I have received 'no response at all' to my various attempts to contact him, because I found in my emails a brief 'thanks, we'll get back to you' letter from one of his staffers from late last year (2012)...but no actual response or return of recent calls, emails, etc...so a partial apology.
And thank you to the Greens Mark Keough for being the only candidate for the seat of Barker to respond to my email/Open Letter as posted previously...
And a further quick apology for yesterday's shambolic post...I've been quite unwell for several months, literally running myself into the ground, not eating or sleeping properly, etc, and with the relative 'release' of not even being able to even Nominate for the Federal election it's all caught up with me.
I've slumped from a motivated participant to a hibernating cynic...from 5hrs sleep a day to 10, and constant metaphoric chewing over of a very large slice of 'Give A F***' Pie...(mmm, GAF Pie...the breakfast of Champions-Ed)...
I have spoken/written before about how doing this blog tramples the fine line between cathartic and catastrophic when it comes to my own mental health and well-being...and as always that translates itself into a physical manifestation...on more than one occasion, doing a post has cost me half a day in creation, and the rest of that day in recuperation.
And every day for 8 months now without respite, because it all constantly comes back to the paedophiles and how 'they' clearly run South Australia...starting with Premiers Mike Rann and Jay Weatherill and then on down...and always down...and the absolute corruption that this not just allows, but fosters and promotes...
It is no exaggeration to say that ultimately I find it slightly less depressing to run repeatedly and at speed into the coal face of Institutionalised Pro-paedophile Corruption that defines South Australian governance, than to stand back and just look at it...
How I envy those whom can look at this situation and then just turn their backs on it...including the long list of local luminaries, eg, Tony Pasin, Greg Muller, Steve Perryman, Don Pegler, Rory McEwen, the ABC, The Border Watch, etc, etc, etc, who all know about St Martins but chose to ignore it for their own gain...
(Well, except of course Rory didn't turn his back, he knowingly participated/s in the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up for his own personal financial gain-Ed)...well, absolutely...and by that definition, so have all involved personally profited from a conscious decision to be part of the cover-up.
Each and everyone of you is absolutely complicit in the Cover-up of the abuse of a class of 7 year old children...(and I'd say rot in hell for it, but I'd suggest you already are-Ed)...nicely put...have a good hard look around Mt Gambier and see a dying city for what it is...and largely thanks to corrupt public officials who ignore the St Martins issue so they can do their corrupt little land re-zonings and disastrous development projects for mutual profit while the rest of the town dies around them.
And that's what really pisses me off about Council's relentless self-congratulation and pompous posturing about what great work they do and how fantastically they 'Consult' with the public and let's give Merv White a prize for 25 years of rooting this town into the ground...yay...
Mt Gambier City Council is a Colonialist feudal throwback to the bad ol' days of self-important white boys carving everything up for themselves and in doing so rooting it all up for everyone else...and the law is a vacuous joke used to control the uppity plebeians...and the law doesn't apply to those causing the problems, the Councillors themselves.
And I offer as a perfect example the $350,000 that dual CEO Greg Muller took without approval from Council coffers and that remains unaccounted...(charming-Ed)...and what have his mates done to recover that money?...absolutely nothing...they've actually sought to excuse and protect him...absolute criminality from the entire Council.
Where's the outrage and the baying for blood and the 'where's our shreking money Greg?'...if this had happened in private business, Greg Muller would be facing charges for Theft and/or Fraud, and given the amount stolen, quite possibly jail time...
And there's The Border Watch right along for the ride, helping Greg and Council to cover-up this theft with ludicrous explanations about 'Fire-rating' and 'Window Insurance'...and then it all just quietly goes away...and even the Council's Auditor can't see it...and where are the police?...institutionalised corruption re the theft of $350,000 of rate-payers money...what a disgrace...
Evey single Planning, Re-zoning, and/or Development issue that has been through Council in the last few years is completely compromised by the gross Conflicts of Interests that are acknowledged when so many Councillors have to leave the chamber that they no longer have a quorum (previous posts), but even more so by those who don't leave.
Time and again, including at Council's meeting Tuesday 20th August 2013, Cr Des Mutton remains in the chamber voting on issues re liquor licences, Main Corner leasing, etc, even after Mayor Steve Perryman and Cr Andrew Lee have excused themselves.
I refer to previous posts about the extraordinary corruption and nepotism of Cr Mutton's son being given the Main Corner facility free of charge (initially) which then became a 'Peppercorn Lease'...and the previous 'Approval Processes' for massive expansions of the Main Corner Project rammed through Council without any 'Public Consultation'...the Commercial Kitchen, the Volcano Movie, and the lighting.
And who is it leading the call for a rate-payer funded cafe at the Old Hospital site?...(no, it couldn't be-Ed)...yes it damn well is; Cr Mutton...I have covered this in a previous post...and he's right in there voting for it in Council meetings...
And now Council is running a farcical 'Public Consultation' about how to improve their 'Public Consultation'...(no, seriously?-Ed)...absolutely...it is a self-perpetuating joke that writes itself...and there's the ad from Council in TBW Friday 16th August (attached) and as repeated yesterday 23rd August.
It is either bare-faced audacity to try and address the gross nepotism and self-serving decision processes of Council, or a validation of the observation that they are all borderline insane and just can't see how selfish and hypocritical their actions are...the whole thing is just so mind-boggling that I cannot decide which horse to back.
You'll excuse me if I just grind to a halt right about.......here...it genuinely saddens me to see the massive damage that successive Mt Gambier City Councils and it's constituent members have visited on the city, let alone the damage of the Forestry Sale, etc, and frankly I've had enough for one day...
Oh, but before I go...fantastic to see the already chipped and badly stained pavers getting laid along the Main at a cost of $1million+...they look absolutely disgusting...great work Council...and it's not like that money could have been better spent elsewhere...shrek me...
Tomorrow: RPCBC Part II
If you think today's post was the angry rantings of a three-lipped nit, then just wait for tomorrow...I don't know about 'Mojo', but I feel something coming back...and it ain't perty...
I am Nick Fletcher and in amongst the fury and the venting I do give a genuine shrek for my society, Mt Gambier and beyond, and that is why I will continue to do this here my bloggy thingy...cheers...
Friday, August 23, 2013
Jail Expansion and Other Issues
Hello Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and France...whom according to my little statistics thingy are all in the top 10 countries whom are 'availees' of this here blog...most excellent...I have no idea who you are individually, but you clearly have great taste in voluminously verbose vindicationings via verseful vitriolic ventifications...(wahhh?-Ed)...
Those whom enjoy me constantly banging on about various issues and justifying my rage by proving the reality of what I claim...(oh, so your constant collective condemnation of Child-abuse corruption and collusion, comprehensively covered with colourful critical commentary-Ed)...yeah, that...
Apologies to all for very short, very late post today.
Marine Pollution and Parks: Adelaide's beaches have been officially closed for several days following heavy rains which create heavily polluted run-off via the Onkaparinga and Torrens Rivers, the Sturt Creek/Patawalonga, and other drains/outlets, etc.
These plumes are clearly visible and an ugly reminder of the land based pollution that constantly seeps and occasionally pours into the Gulf off Adelaide where, due to minimal tidal flows, the vast majority remains in the shallow waters near the coast affecting seagrasses and the associated ecosystems, eg, spawning and feeding areas for fish, Blue Swimmer Crab habitat, etc.
And there appears to be little if any effort to address this well known pollution problem that could have been addressed by diverting stormwater to the De-salination Plant for appropriate treatment and re-use, which ironically, is itself clearly responsible for pollution from it's outfall pipe/s.
Intermittent small scale man-made wetlands are all well and groovy for dealing with small volumes of run-off, but it takes something the scale of the Salisbury Wetlands to really make a difference...and...
Many 'fishers' continue to criticise Marine Parks, both the extent and the intent, and I may not know that much about the former, but even as a supporter of protection, Parks, etc, I think there is a strong case to argue that we are doing ourselves economic damage for a not specifically defined benefit.
The hypocrisy of the stated intent, preservation, is immediately obvious when BHP amongst others are to be granted exploration rights for Gas and/or Oil in literally the exact areas that 'fishers' have been shut out of.
Credit Where Credit's Due: I regularly put the boot into The Border Watch newspaper because they have such a critical role to play in covering local news but are extremely biased and selective in what they will and won't cover, but, they are to be congratulated for at least one thing.
I noticed some time ago that many major papers have almost no coverage of women's sport unless it's a new skimpy volleyballer's outfit, or someone in bathers, etc, but TBW offers extensive coverage of all sports and their participants...and for this they are to be genuinely congratulated.
I don't suggest that this excuses some of the other things they do...(or don't do-Ed)...indeed...but it is an example of why they are important as a local media source, and in some respects more advanced than their senior colleagues.
Somewhat less glorious is their coverage of the Gaol Expansion Issue, where they subscribe to the official line that we should be grateful for the jobs...that this is somehow a good thing for Mt Gambier.
The front page article Thursday 22nd 2013 (continued page 6) makes only one brief mention of the reality of what is happening, and even then plays down the problem...180 new prisoners to add to the 128 already here "of which the majority are serving time for sex-related offences."
This follows on from the front page article from several weeks ago that went to great lengths to explain that someone being released from the gaol would not be getting released into Mt Gambier.
I re-iterate that I have been trying to get this issue (about the dumping of Adelaide's sex-offenders in the South East) into the Mt Gambier media for some time, but it was only after I 'blogged it' that the issue started to appear.
As per previous post, last Monday 19th August there was a long interview on the Local ABC where the interviewee repeatedly played down or dismissed the issue of what happens to released prisoners moving into Mt Gambier, and again Credit Where Due, that was in response to the questioning from Stan Thomson.
Rather than run through it all again, please refer previous posts...I'm crook (sick) and I'm going to bed and feel sorry for myself.
Again, apols for short post, but I have received feedback that maybe they could be a bit shorter anyway...ahahaha...that's just not gunna' happen...
Tomorrow: Arts Funding in Mt Gambier
And some other stuff...here's to feeling better tomorrow...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...
Those whom enjoy me constantly banging on about various issues and justifying my rage by proving the reality of what I claim...(oh, so your constant collective condemnation of Child-abuse corruption and collusion, comprehensively covered with colourful critical commentary-Ed)...yeah, that...
Apologies to all for very short, very late post today.
Marine Pollution and Parks: Adelaide's beaches have been officially closed for several days following heavy rains which create heavily polluted run-off via the Onkaparinga and Torrens Rivers, the Sturt Creek/Patawalonga, and other drains/outlets, etc.
These plumes are clearly visible and an ugly reminder of the land based pollution that constantly seeps and occasionally pours into the Gulf off Adelaide where, due to minimal tidal flows, the vast majority remains in the shallow waters near the coast affecting seagrasses and the associated ecosystems, eg, spawning and feeding areas for fish, Blue Swimmer Crab habitat, etc.
And there appears to be little if any effort to address this well known pollution problem that could have been addressed by diverting stormwater to the De-salination Plant for appropriate treatment and re-use, which ironically, is itself clearly responsible for pollution from it's outfall pipe/s.
Intermittent small scale man-made wetlands are all well and groovy for dealing with small volumes of run-off, but it takes something the scale of the Salisbury Wetlands to really make a difference...and...
Many 'fishers' continue to criticise Marine Parks, both the extent and the intent, and I may not know that much about the former, but even as a supporter of protection, Parks, etc, I think there is a strong case to argue that we are doing ourselves economic damage for a not specifically defined benefit.
The hypocrisy of the stated intent, preservation, is immediately obvious when BHP amongst others are to be granted exploration rights for Gas and/or Oil in literally the exact areas that 'fishers' have been shut out of.
Credit Where Credit's Due: I regularly put the boot into The Border Watch newspaper because they have such a critical role to play in covering local news but are extremely biased and selective in what they will and won't cover, but, they are to be congratulated for at least one thing.
I noticed some time ago that many major papers have almost no coverage of women's sport unless it's a new skimpy volleyballer's outfit, or someone in bathers, etc, but TBW offers extensive coverage of all sports and their participants...and for this they are to be genuinely congratulated.
I don't suggest that this excuses some of the other things they do...(or don't do-Ed)...indeed...but it is an example of why they are important as a local media source, and in some respects more advanced than their senior colleagues.
Somewhat less glorious is their coverage of the Gaol Expansion Issue, where they subscribe to the official line that we should be grateful for the jobs...that this is somehow a good thing for Mt Gambier.
The front page article Thursday 22nd 2013 (continued page 6) makes only one brief mention of the reality of what is happening, and even then plays down the problem...180 new prisoners to add to the 128 already here "of which the majority are serving time for sex-related offences."
This follows on from the front page article from several weeks ago that went to great lengths to explain that someone being released from the gaol would not be getting released into Mt Gambier.
I re-iterate that I have been trying to get this issue (about the dumping of Adelaide's sex-offenders in the South East) into the Mt Gambier media for some time, but it was only after I 'blogged it' that the issue started to appear.
As per previous post, last Monday 19th August there was a long interview on the Local ABC where the interviewee repeatedly played down or dismissed the issue of what happens to released prisoners moving into Mt Gambier, and again Credit Where Due, that was in response to the questioning from Stan Thomson.
Rather than run through it all again, please refer previous posts...I'm crook (sick) and I'm going to bed and feel sorry for myself.
Again, apols for short post, but I have received feedback that maybe they could be a bit shorter anyway...ahahaha...that's just not gunna' happen...
Tomorrow: Arts Funding in Mt Gambier
And some other stuff...here's to feeling better tomorrow...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Revised Post: TFTIM Stuart Stansfield
Hello India, Indonesia, and the USofA...welcome to the blog...and to the oft promised revised post that was pulled down weeks ago...and I still don't know why because I have received no notification...that's nine posts 'pulled down' now and I don't know why...
Again, the problem appears to be my opinion and/or language because the factual content is accurate, so I'll just re-use paragraphs from the removed post, so...
*Can't remember the first time I actually met Stuart Stansfield...I make no secret of the fact that, because of his extraordinary behaviour towards parents over the St Martins Issue during his previous stint at the ABC, I did everything I could to avoid him after his return (in mid 2012 following the 'retirement' of Alan Richardson).
Stuart always tries to be so falsely professional in front of others, but he has made no attempt to hide his dislike for me or the other parents. Other than in public, he has demonstrated an intense dislike even hatred for us few parents trying to get something done about the St Martins Child Abuse Cover-up.
He was/is aggressive, dismissive, and generally abusive, epeatedly blocking/denying us access to air-time.
I don't know why he has behaved like this; whether it is because he's mates with former MP Rory McEwen, or connected to the Lutherans, or just aligning himself with the highly corrupted 'power brokers' in Mt Gambier and South Australia, or some other motivation...but it's irrelevant...
His personal animosity is his problem for him to deal with in his own time, not an agenda for him to be pursuing via his position, from behind his position, with the ABC...unless of course his behaviour is tacitly approved and/or following specific internal directives.
Given the National and State ABC's refusal to touch the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up Issue, this 'internal directive' becomes increasingly a probability...I know from my vantage point at the eye of the St Martins storm that there is massive pressure being applied from the top down to keep this horrendous disgrace buried...not that it's so difficult in a society defined by it's pro-paedophile corruption.
I have no reservation in stating that there has been a concerted effort to shut me out of the Mt Gambier media...and so it continues.
(Personal commentary removed)...on June 4th 2013 Stuart ran a long interview with MP Don Pegler about yet another 60 bed expansion to the Mt Gambier gaol...it was hilarious to hear Stuart state that he couldn't get anyone from the Labor government on the program and then say 'we've got Don Pegler instead'...it's exactly the same thing and everyone knows it...
Big Myself Up - This interview covered all of the issues that I have been pursuing through the local media for years, without success, about the repeated gaol expansions (now from 170 to 340 and possibly more), eg, impact on housing, health and other services; type of offenders; and release of sex offenders into the community...it sounded like they had copies of my blog in front of them and were addressing it point by point.
And the whole line in that interview from Don "I'm Alright" Pegler, and from Richard "I'm Doing Quite Nicely As well Thanks" Sage, is the absolute offensiveness of 'be grateful for the jobs'...and that is still the line.
These two know full well that Adelaide is dumping it's sex offenders and paedophiles in Mt Gambier, yet are prepared to go into the public forum and outright lie in support of the Labor government agenda...and these are the people who supposedly represent our community...what hope?...but I digress...
Inevitably I ran (rang) into Stuart Stansfield when the Mt Gambier City Council released their 'Report' about me via The Border Watch on July 24th 2012 (previous post) and I called the ABC to discuss it...and Stuart answered...he had seen the article but his response was "we won't be doing anything on that."
When I asked him if he knew what it was about, he responded, and I quote;
"I don't know and I don't want to know."
and when I told him anyway he was genuinely if temporarily taken back, suggesting that I should go to police but still refusing to give me any airtime.
Only moments into our first conversation since his return and he had made it abundantly clear that nothing had changed from several years before. I politely insisted, choosing to go around his refusals by stating that I would provide him a copy of my 'Right of Reply' letter to TBW, and then contact him later to discuss it.
TBW then ran a third of my 'Reply' letter (and no apology) on Friday 27th July, and I contacted the ABC again, speaking to producer Selina Green, who asked me (or I offered, whatevs) to call back, and I did, but she was unable to help me (couldn't, wouldn't, wasn't allowed to) and passed me on to Stuart.
Mr Stansfield was highly abusive, half yelling down the phone, "I told you" followed by "I've got a guest" and then just hung up on me.
I did not call on the Monday to avoid Stuart and Penny Moorhouse*, but rang again on the Tuesday 31st July. (*I believe that Ms Moorhouse is following instructions to deny me access, and is to a certain degree therefore not responsible for her actions...just following orders.)
On 31/07/12 Ms Green answered again and I apologised to her personally for the official complaint that I was on the verge of lodging re Stuart Stansfield, and she passed me on to Stuart.
He again refused to discuss the Council report or apologise for hanging up on me, instead attacking me for calling the station "5 times" on Friday, claiming that I had nearly reduced Ms Green to tears...she said nothing to me...it was all a construct of Stuart's as he sought justification for what he wanted to do.
Stuart repeatedly laughed at and openly taunted me whilst stating ,"...your problem is that you're too insistent...you just don't get it". I asked him to put it all in writing but he refused, instead stating;
"Don't be surprised if the next letter you get from the ABC is telling you to stay away for good."
Whenever I held him to account on any point, he just laughed and snidely said, "You just don't get it do you Nick?". He made this exact statement 4 or 5 times, eventually hanging up on me.
He was unambiguously indicating, without stating outright, that he was in charge now and that meant that I would not be getting any airtime.
As the senior producer/manager with the ABC Mt Gambier he abused, ridiculed and taunted me over the phone...and you just know he wouldn't do it to my face...
Just prior to Christmas 2012 Stuart ran a long interview with his mate Rory McEwen, in which Rory repeatedly, glowingly praised up St Martins Lutheran School...and naturally I called in to ask what the heck was happening...Stuart answered, abused me "Don't be ridiculous" and "That's not appropriate" before yet again hanging up on me...charming...
I have worked very hard to go around this extraordinary behaviour, and much to his annoyance I continue to call the ABC, mostly to correct faults in their reportage. Only a few weeks ago (May 2013) Stuart put me to air accidentally without knowing who it was, "Hello caller, you're on the air..." to question Tony Abbott's Pollie Pedal motives...I was polite and to the point as always.
Since I lodged my most recent written complaint, on the couple of occasions that I have had messages read out, Stuart has made a point of saying, "And regular ABC contributor Nick Fletcher called in to say..."...but nobody's fooled, least of all me...as others have observed to me, any time I am currently getting on the ABC Radio is clearly under extreme suffrage, and that Stuart's specific identification of me is purely so he can argue the case that 'yes, Nick Fletcher is getting time, just look at this...'
I'm quietly confident that he is keeping a log of these 'messages' for future reference...(geez, no wonder they hate you...they abuse, vilify, taunt and goad you...and all you do is write appropriate complaints and politely come back again and again with balanced, informed commentary...you complete and utter bastard-Ed)...thank you...
*This is the previous post from Wednesday June 5th minus my personal opinion. It is factually correct.
On August 1st 2013 I rang to speak about issues re the Health system and Millicent Hospital and Stuart answered, said he was "busy", and that I should "call back after the program" and hung up on me...again...I didn't even get to say why I had called...just a mouthful of abuse and hangup...again...
Other Issues: I have received no response at all from either the Electoral Commission or SAPol re my complaints (previous posts) about 1) the discrimination inherent in the Nomination Process, and, 2) the anonymous, libellous 'Comments' left on this blog, that were/are clearly related to the Federal Election, so I'll follow that up and post...
And more celebrations re the Gaol Expansion...be grateful for the jobs you're getting babysitting Adelaide's paedophiles and rapists before they move into your street...just super...
Tomorrow: The Gaol Expansion
I'll say it again...Mt Gambier has been 'written-off' by the major parties as an expendable irrelevance to be carved up by big business, eg, Forestry Sale, Wind Turbine Developers, etc, and to be used as a human refuse heap...
And this has happened for some time, eg, problematic Housing Trust tenants from Adelaide being offered housing in the South East to get them 'out' of Adelaide.
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog and I'm sure I'm not the only person who gives a damn about Mt Gambier...it just feels that way some days...laters...
Again, the problem appears to be my opinion and/or language because the factual content is accurate, so I'll just re-use paragraphs from the removed post, so...
*Can't remember the first time I actually met Stuart Stansfield...I make no secret of the fact that, because of his extraordinary behaviour towards parents over the St Martins Issue during his previous stint at the ABC, I did everything I could to avoid him after his return (in mid 2012 following the 'retirement' of Alan Richardson).
Stuart always tries to be so falsely professional in front of others, but he has made no attempt to hide his dislike for me or the other parents. Other than in public, he has demonstrated an intense dislike even hatred for us few parents trying to get something done about the St Martins Child Abuse Cover-up.
He was/is aggressive, dismissive, and generally abusive, epeatedly blocking/denying us access to air-time.
I don't know why he has behaved like this; whether it is because he's mates with former MP Rory McEwen, or connected to the Lutherans, or just aligning himself with the highly corrupted 'power brokers' in Mt Gambier and South Australia, or some other motivation...but it's irrelevant...
His personal animosity is his problem for him to deal with in his own time, not an agenda for him to be pursuing via his position, from behind his position, with the ABC...unless of course his behaviour is tacitly approved and/or following specific internal directives.
Given the National and State ABC's refusal to touch the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up Issue, this 'internal directive' becomes increasingly a probability...I know from my vantage point at the eye of the St Martins storm that there is massive pressure being applied from the top down to keep this horrendous disgrace buried...not that it's so difficult in a society defined by it's pro-paedophile corruption.
I have no reservation in stating that there has been a concerted effort to shut me out of the Mt Gambier media...and so it continues.
(Personal commentary removed)...on June 4th 2013 Stuart ran a long interview with MP Don Pegler about yet another 60 bed expansion to the Mt Gambier gaol...it was hilarious to hear Stuart state that he couldn't get anyone from the Labor government on the program and then say 'we've got Don Pegler instead'...it's exactly the same thing and everyone knows it...
Big Myself Up - This interview covered all of the issues that I have been pursuing through the local media for years, without success, about the repeated gaol expansions (now from 170 to 340 and possibly more), eg, impact on housing, health and other services; type of offenders; and release of sex offenders into the community...it sounded like they had copies of my blog in front of them and were addressing it point by point.
And the whole line in that interview from Don "I'm Alright" Pegler, and from Richard "I'm Doing Quite Nicely As well Thanks" Sage, is the absolute offensiveness of 'be grateful for the jobs'...and that is still the line.
These two know full well that Adelaide is dumping it's sex offenders and paedophiles in Mt Gambier, yet are prepared to go into the public forum and outright lie in support of the Labor government agenda...and these are the people who supposedly represent our community...what hope?...but I digress...
Inevitably I ran (rang) into Stuart Stansfield when the Mt Gambier City Council released their 'Report' about me via The Border Watch on July 24th 2012 (previous post) and I called the ABC to discuss it...and Stuart answered...he had seen the article but his response was "we won't be doing anything on that."
When I asked him if he knew what it was about, he responded, and I quote;
"I don't know and I don't want to know."
and when I told him anyway he was genuinely if temporarily taken back, suggesting that I should go to police but still refusing to give me any airtime.
Only moments into our first conversation since his return and he had made it abundantly clear that nothing had changed from several years before. I politely insisted, choosing to go around his refusals by stating that I would provide him a copy of my 'Right of Reply' letter to TBW, and then contact him later to discuss it.
TBW then ran a third of my 'Reply' letter (and no apology) on Friday 27th July, and I contacted the ABC again, speaking to producer Selina Green, who asked me (or I offered, whatevs) to call back, and I did, but she was unable to help me (couldn't, wouldn't, wasn't allowed to) and passed me on to Stuart.
Mr Stansfield was highly abusive, half yelling down the phone, "I told you" followed by "I've got a guest" and then just hung up on me.
I did not call on the Monday to avoid Stuart and Penny Moorhouse*, but rang again on the Tuesday 31st July. (*I believe that Ms Moorhouse is following instructions to deny me access, and is to a certain degree therefore not responsible for her actions...just following orders.)
On 31/07/12 Ms Green answered again and I apologised to her personally for the official complaint that I was on the verge of lodging re Stuart Stansfield, and she passed me on to Stuart.
He again refused to discuss the Council report or apologise for hanging up on me, instead attacking me for calling the station "5 times" on Friday, claiming that I had nearly reduced Ms Green to tears...she said nothing to me...it was all a construct of Stuart's as he sought justification for what he wanted to do.
Stuart repeatedly laughed at and openly taunted me whilst stating ,"...your problem is that you're too insistent...you just don't get it". I asked him to put it all in writing but he refused, instead stating;
"Don't be surprised if the next letter you get from the ABC is telling you to stay away for good."
Whenever I held him to account on any point, he just laughed and snidely said, "You just don't get it do you Nick?". He made this exact statement 4 or 5 times, eventually hanging up on me.
He was unambiguously indicating, without stating outright, that he was in charge now and that meant that I would not be getting any airtime.
As the senior producer/manager with the ABC Mt Gambier he abused, ridiculed and taunted me over the phone...and you just know he wouldn't do it to my face...
Just prior to Christmas 2012 Stuart ran a long interview with his mate Rory McEwen, in which Rory repeatedly, glowingly praised up St Martins Lutheran School...and naturally I called in to ask what the heck was happening...Stuart answered, abused me "Don't be ridiculous" and "That's not appropriate" before yet again hanging up on me...charming...
I have worked very hard to go around this extraordinary behaviour, and much to his annoyance I continue to call the ABC, mostly to correct faults in their reportage. Only a few weeks ago (May 2013) Stuart put me to air accidentally without knowing who it was, "Hello caller, you're on the air..." to question Tony Abbott's Pollie Pedal motives...I was polite and to the point as always.
Since I lodged my most recent written complaint, on the couple of occasions that I have had messages read out, Stuart has made a point of saying, "And regular ABC contributor Nick Fletcher called in to say..."...but nobody's fooled, least of all me...as others have observed to me, any time I am currently getting on the ABC Radio is clearly under extreme suffrage, and that Stuart's specific identification of me is purely so he can argue the case that 'yes, Nick Fletcher is getting time, just look at this...'
I'm quietly confident that he is keeping a log of these 'messages' for future reference...(geez, no wonder they hate you...they abuse, vilify, taunt and goad you...and all you do is write appropriate complaints and politely come back again and again with balanced, informed commentary...you complete and utter bastard-Ed)...thank you...
*This is the previous post from Wednesday June 5th minus my personal opinion. It is factually correct.
On August 1st 2013 I rang to speak about issues re the Health system and Millicent Hospital and Stuart answered, said he was "busy", and that I should "call back after the program" and hung up on me...again...I didn't even get to say why I had called...just a mouthful of abuse and hangup...again...
Other Issues: I have received no response at all from either the Electoral Commission or SAPol re my complaints (previous posts) about 1) the discrimination inherent in the Nomination Process, and, 2) the anonymous, libellous 'Comments' left on this blog, that were/are clearly related to the Federal Election, so I'll follow that up and post...
And more celebrations re the Gaol Expansion...be grateful for the jobs you're getting babysitting Adelaide's paedophiles and rapists before they move into your street...just super...
Tomorrow: The Gaol Expansion
I'll say it again...Mt Gambier has been 'written-off' by the major parties as an expendable irrelevance to be carved up by big business, eg, Forestry Sale, Wind Turbine Developers, etc, and to be used as a human refuse heap...
And this has happened for some time, eg, problematic Housing Trust tenants from Adelaide being offered housing in the South East to get them 'out' of Adelaide.
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog and I'm sure I'm not the only person who gives a damn about Mt Gambier...it just feels that way some days...laters...
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Premier Jay Weatherill Threatens Defamation re Child Abuse
Hello world and a double apology for a late post and changing the topic, but this was just too much to go past...Jay Weatherill banging on about how his honesty has been impugned, etc, and threatening to sue several members of the South Australian Liberal party and a journalist(s) re the Child Abuse Cover-up at the western Suburbs School that precipitated the DeBelle Inquiry.
This threat smacks of desperation...are we witnessing the unravelling of a decade of institutionalised Child Abuse Cover-up under Labor?...or will the Liberal Party just have a big bloody whinge about it before turning around and just wandering off without achieving anything?...like they do every other time...
(Hello defamation my old friend-Ed)...how very Simon and Garfunkel of you...and yes, this defamation threat is a common one that I am very familiar with...
Please review previous posts re the various defamation threats I have personally received, eg, where the Crown Solicitor threatened to gaol me, and the case where the Rann/Weatherill Labor government tried to gaol Child Protection Activists for exposing paedophile politicians and police.
Please find attached below my most recent communications with Premier Weatherill's office re St Martins...just the usual fury...nothing new...please note that it is now a full month since I was emailed "We are currently seeking advice about this."
Also, I have today emailed Candidates in the seat of Barker the open letter re St Martins, and copies of my two letters to the Australian Electoral Commission re the Nominations discrimination and the 'Comments', as covered in previous posts...will keep you posted...
Tomorrow: The Revised Posts
Honest, honest, honest...and possibly some other stuff if there's room/time.
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
This threat smacks of desperation...are we witnessing the unravelling of a decade of institutionalised Child Abuse Cover-up under Labor?...or will the Liberal Party just have a big bloody whinge about it before turning around and just wandering off without achieving anything?...like they do every other time...
(Hello defamation my old friend-Ed)...how very Simon and Garfunkel of you...and yes, this defamation threat is a common one that I am very familiar with...
Please review previous posts re the various defamation threats I have personally received, eg, where the Crown Solicitor threatened to gaol me, and the case where the Rann/Weatherill Labor government tried to gaol Child Protection Activists for exposing paedophile politicians and police.
Please find attached below my most recent communications with Premier Weatherill's office re St Martins...just the usual fury...nothing new...please note that it is now a full month since I was emailed "We are currently seeking advice about this."
Also, I have today emailed Candidates in the seat of Barker the open letter re St Martins, and copies of my two letters to the Australian Electoral Commission re the Nominations discrimination and the 'Comments', as covered in previous posts...will keep you posted...
Tomorrow: The Revised Posts
Honest, honest, honest...and possibly some other stuff if there's room/time.
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Council Propaganda and Other Stuff
Hello to Indonesia, France, Germany, and Brazil...won't you join us here in l'il ol' Mt Gambier as we celebrate the official opening of the massive expansion of the local gaol and the imminent arrival of a further 100+ of Adelaide's sex offenders, the majority of whom are paedophiles...yay...
But first, in Adelaide, the Weatherill Labor government is under fire for allowing budget airline AirAsia to advertise cheap flights on the back of public transport buses, using direct lines like ' why fly to KI (Kangaroo Island), when you could fly to KL (Kuala Lumpur) for less?' (paraphrase) to encourage people to holiday in Asia rather than locally.
It is clearly inappropriate to use a 'public service' to advertise against local providers, etc, but that's just the beginning...(or the end depending on where you begin-Ed)...well, a beginning is by definition an end unto itself...(heavy dude-Ed)...because only weeks ago Premier Jay Weatherill announced that South Australian taxpayers had provided AirAsia with 'funding' to help them establish in SA.
But Mr Weatherill flatly refused to disclose the amount, citing "commercial confidentiality"...(so?-Ed)...so it's SA taxpayer's money that he's given away and that money has directly funded AirAsia to advertise against our own local providers, and helped fund these 'budget flights', and according to Emperor Jay, us plebs need to just go away and accept it.
(So, SA taxpayers are funding an Asia based airline to fly to/from Adelaide, and we also pay for their advertising against our local tourism operators-Ed)...exactly...(and our illustrious leader reckons that it's none of our business how much of our money he's given them-Ed)...yep...(charming-Ed)...
And in the ABC Local Radio interview yesterday, a spokesperson for the gaol (or Corrections Dept, whatevs) stated that no prisoners were released directly into Mt Gambier, but were instead repatriated to Adelaide where they then 'lived with their families'...(so many issues in one sentence-Ed)...
When the Gaol Expansion was first muted, the two main justifications were that it would create employment, but ahead of that, that the families of prisoners would move to Mt Gambier to be near them, and that would be a boost for the local economy...and the concern was that there was no funding for increased services, eg, health, to cater for these families...(I believe that the Grant District Council did some investigation of this and may have applied for relative funding-Ed)...indeed...
It has been put to me directly that there are very few relocated families and visitors to the jail because of the nature of offending, ie, sex offenders, mostly paedophiles, who are largely shunned by their own families, and that this leads them to return to Mt Gambier even if 'released' in Adelaide.
Local MP Don Pegler is absolutely gushing about what a great thing the expansion is for Mt Gambier with jobs, services to be provided, etc, with a scant dismissal of the 'dumping in Mt Gambier' issue.
Again, I take 51% of the credit that the issue of 'types of offenders' is even being discussed because this has only happened after I addressed it on this blog...after several years of trying without success via the local media...
This Gaol Expansion and 'offender issue' is fairly typical of the sort of Council propaganda that appears with monotonous regularity in The Border Watch, eg, even today's front page is a glowing report about the absolutely ludicrous street re-paving currently underway in the Main (Commercial St)...a pointless, costly exercise, and literally everyone I talk to is asking 'which Councillor's relative did Council buy those ugly grey pavers off?'...this being the most logical explanation for the pointless 'project' and a conclusion based on Council's history of gross nepotism.
Last Friday 16th August it was Cr Des Mutton on the front page with the headline "Clash of the titans", and Cr Mutton pushing for another rate-payer funded cafe to be built at the Old Hospital site...(no doubt to be handed to his son gratis as was the Main Corner function centre-Ed)...careful what you wish for...and let's see if Council apply the 'must self-fund' template that they regularly use to oppose other projects they don't want to do, eg, fund public transport, refuse to do a covered pool, etc.
And another gem from Graham Greenwood on page 8, 'City signage dilemma puts council unfairly in hot seat' re the nonsense from Council about the Circus putting up inflated clowns to advertise their brief visit.
And a week of 'photo opportunities' for Mayor Steve Perryman at a 'Treadmill Fundraiser', with the 'RSL Roses', and the Homelessness Week function and previous morning tea...all worthy causes/events in and of themselves...and the 'Treadmill' photo explains why Mr Perryman showed up to the official Homelessness event in shorts and running shoes...he was just stopping through on his way to another photo op.
I consider it inappropriate for the Mayor to show this relative disrespect for the Homelessness issue and cannot imagine him attending other functions in his official capacity dressed in a similarly 'casual' way...(actually, he has been regularly criticised for his casual appearance, eg, unshaven, or non-attendance at public functions-Ed)...true...
And on Friday 9th August another piece from Mr Greenwood that is scathing of politicians for 'not living within their means' and being more responsible with their spending, but in a splendid piece of reverse propaganda, not one mention of the outrageous borrowing and expenditure of the Mt Gambier City Council who have recently doubled their borrowing capacity to allegedly spend on a series of 'projects', none of which will return one cent to help repay those borrowings.
But for me personally, the crowning glory was the page 3 article Wednesday 14th August re the Penola Rd/Wireless Rd intersection...(that follows the front page article/justification for the Council dumping even just talking about the Indoor/Covered Pool issue until 2017/18, and the inexplicable accompanying support from Pool Advocate Barney McCusker-Ed)...yes, I covered that in a previous post...
Page three, though, has a large photo of Councillors Merv White and Ian Von Stanke standing at the intersection...why?...there is no quote from them and no discernible reason as to why they are there at all...all it lacks is the traditional reference to "Council stalwarts" that is a favourite with The Border Watch when it comes to describing people who have clearly been on Council for far too long.
I know this all seems a little trite compared to other issues happening around the globe, but it just punches my buttons when I see this relentless manipulation of the debate by TBW, eg, pages of praise and no accountability.
Please refer to my previous posts re the Budget Consultation Process and the clear collusion between Council and TBW in presenting the predetermined outcome as a positive result in response to 'extensive consultation' and Council 'listening to the feedback'...
Only yesterday I had a long conversation with someone who stated to me, with liberal amounts of swearing, the many issues they had/have with TBW's publicly exposed pro Don Pegler bias prior to the 2010 state election.
I maintain that TBW and the local ABC are critical sources of information for the local community, and that is why I get so frustrated with these issues of subjectivity and bias.
Tomorrow: The Much Promised Revised Posts
Re Stuart Stansfield (removed by Stuart) and the conclusion of the Budget Process (that was for some reason removed by NF McDonnell Mill).
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...until tomorrow mes ami...
But first, in Adelaide, the Weatherill Labor government is under fire for allowing budget airline AirAsia to advertise cheap flights on the back of public transport buses, using direct lines like ' why fly to KI (Kangaroo Island), when you could fly to KL (Kuala Lumpur) for less?' (paraphrase) to encourage people to holiday in Asia rather than locally.
It is clearly inappropriate to use a 'public service' to advertise against local providers, etc, but that's just the beginning...(or the end depending on where you begin-Ed)...well, a beginning is by definition an end unto itself...(heavy dude-Ed)...because only weeks ago Premier Jay Weatherill announced that South Australian taxpayers had provided AirAsia with 'funding' to help them establish in SA.
But Mr Weatherill flatly refused to disclose the amount, citing "commercial confidentiality"...(so?-Ed)...so it's SA taxpayer's money that he's given away and that money has directly funded AirAsia to advertise against our own local providers, and helped fund these 'budget flights', and according to Emperor Jay, us plebs need to just go away and accept it.
(So, SA taxpayers are funding an Asia based airline to fly to/from Adelaide, and we also pay for their advertising against our local tourism operators-Ed)...exactly...(and our illustrious leader reckons that it's none of our business how much of our money he's given them-Ed)...yep...(charming-Ed)...
And in the ABC Local Radio interview yesterday, a spokesperson for the gaol (or Corrections Dept, whatevs) stated that no prisoners were released directly into Mt Gambier, but were instead repatriated to Adelaide where they then 'lived with their families'...(so many issues in one sentence-Ed)...
When the Gaol Expansion was first muted, the two main justifications were that it would create employment, but ahead of that, that the families of prisoners would move to Mt Gambier to be near them, and that would be a boost for the local economy...and the concern was that there was no funding for increased services, eg, health, to cater for these families...(I believe that the Grant District Council did some investigation of this and may have applied for relative funding-Ed)...indeed...
It has been put to me directly that there are very few relocated families and visitors to the jail because of the nature of offending, ie, sex offenders, mostly paedophiles, who are largely shunned by their own families, and that this leads them to return to Mt Gambier even if 'released' in Adelaide.
Local MP Don Pegler is absolutely gushing about what a great thing the expansion is for Mt Gambier with jobs, services to be provided, etc, with a scant dismissal of the 'dumping in Mt Gambier' issue.
Again, I take 51% of the credit that the issue of 'types of offenders' is even being discussed because this has only happened after I addressed it on this blog...after several years of trying without success via the local media...
This Gaol Expansion and 'offender issue' is fairly typical of the sort of Council propaganda that appears with monotonous regularity in The Border Watch, eg, even today's front page is a glowing report about the absolutely ludicrous street re-paving currently underway in the Main (Commercial St)...a pointless, costly exercise, and literally everyone I talk to is asking 'which Councillor's relative did Council buy those ugly grey pavers off?'...this being the most logical explanation for the pointless 'project' and a conclusion based on Council's history of gross nepotism.
Last Friday 16th August it was Cr Des Mutton on the front page with the headline "Clash of the titans", and Cr Mutton pushing for another rate-payer funded cafe to be built at the Old Hospital site...(no doubt to be handed to his son gratis as was the Main Corner function centre-Ed)...careful what you wish for...and let's see if Council apply the 'must self-fund' template that they regularly use to oppose other projects they don't want to do, eg, fund public transport, refuse to do a covered pool, etc.
And another gem from Graham Greenwood on page 8, 'City signage dilemma puts council unfairly in hot seat' re the nonsense from Council about the Circus putting up inflated clowns to advertise their brief visit.
And a week of 'photo opportunities' for Mayor Steve Perryman at a 'Treadmill Fundraiser', with the 'RSL Roses', and the Homelessness Week function and previous morning tea...all worthy causes/events in and of themselves...and the 'Treadmill' photo explains why Mr Perryman showed up to the official Homelessness event in shorts and running shoes...he was just stopping through on his way to another photo op.
I consider it inappropriate for the Mayor to show this relative disrespect for the Homelessness issue and cannot imagine him attending other functions in his official capacity dressed in a similarly 'casual' way...(actually, he has been regularly criticised for his casual appearance, eg, unshaven, or non-attendance at public functions-Ed)...true...
And on Friday 9th August another piece from Mr Greenwood that is scathing of politicians for 'not living within their means' and being more responsible with their spending, but in a splendid piece of reverse propaganda, not one mention of the outrageous borrowing and expenditure of the Mt Gambier City Council who have recently doubled their borrowing capacity to allegedly spend on a series of 'projects', none of which will return one cent to help repay those borrowings.
But for me personally, the crowning glory was the page 3 article Wednesday 14th August re the Penola Rd/Wireless Rd intersection...(that follows the front page article/justification for the Council dumping even just talking about the Indoor/Covered Pool issue until 2017/18, and the inexplicable accompanying support from Pool Advocate Barney McCusker-Ed)...yes, I covered that in a previous post...
Page three, though, has a large photo of Councillors Merv White and Ian Von Stanke standing at the intersection...why?...there is no quote from them and no discernible reason as to why they are there at all...all it lacks is the traditional reference to "Council stalwarts" that is a favourite with The Border Watch when it comes to describing people who have clearly been on Council for far too long.
I know this all seems a little trite compared to other issues happening around the globe, but it just punches my buttons when I see this relentless manipulation of the debate by TBW, eg, pages of praise and no accountability.
Please refer to my previous posts re the Budget Consultation Process and the clear collusion between Council and TBW in presenting the predetermined outcome as a positive result in response to 'extensive consultation' and Council 'listening to the feedback'...
Only yesterday I had a long conversation with someone who stated to me, with liberal amounts of swearing, the many issues they had/have with TBW's publicly exposed pro Don Pegler bias prior to the 2010 state election.
I maintain that TBW and the local ABC are critical sources of information for the local community, and that is why I get so frustrated with these issues of subjectivity and bias.
Tomorrow: The Much Promised Revised Posts
Re Stuart Stansfield (removed by Stuart) and the conclusion of the Budget Process (that was for some reason removed by NF McDonnell Mill).
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...until tomorrow mes ami...
Monday, August 19, 2013
Official Complaint to Electoral Commission
Apologies for late post and for changing topic, but I have been preparing this attached letter and delivering to Police and the Electoral Commission...(and stopping for lunch-Ed)...well yes, a bloke's gotta eat...(is that what you call that ungratifying display?-Ed)...thank you...
I have lodged this official complaint with Police following the multiple stories through the media recently and the relevant advice to report this sort of gutless 'social media' vilification, particularly as the defamation re the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up involves other parents, and there are specific allegations against me of specific unlawful acts, eg, multiple layers of defrauding Centrelink.
Given the clear and self-defined political intent of these 'Comments' left on previous posts only since the Election was officially called, I have also lodged this as an official complaint with the Electoral Commission...the letter is quite self-explanatory so I won't go on...
Also, I managed to catch MLC Nick Xenophon this morning during his brief visit to Mt Gambier, and he was already running late but gave me 10 minutes, apologised for the failure of his office to acknowledge my various recent attempts to contact him, and we have taken steps to rectify that.
Upset I may be, but I take Mr Xenophon at his word and repeated to him what I have stated in previous posts, namely that he did not have to engage with us at all re St Martins, and that I believe that he got us the Parliamentary Inquiry that he knew he could get up, and that any Inquiry with 'genuine powers', etc, would not have been supported by either major party.
I look forward to hearing from Mr Xenophon in the near future, and of course hope he will be returning to Mt Gambier soon.
Tomorrow: The Council Stuff
As promised...and some other stuff...and thank you again for your feedback 'off-blog'...much appreciated...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
I have lodged this official complaint with Police following the multiple stories through the media recently and the relevant advice to report this sort of gutless 'social media' vilification, particularly as the defamation re the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up involves other parents, and there are specific allegations against me of specific unlawful acts, eg, multiple layers of defrauding Centrelink.
Given the clear and self-defined political intent of these 'Comments' left on previous posts only since the Election was officially called, I have also lodged this as an official complaint with the Electoral Commission...the letter is quite self-explanatory so I won't go on...
Also, I managed to catch MLC Nick Xenophon this morning during his brief visit to Mt Gambier, and he was already running late but gave me 10 minutes, apologised for the failure of his office to acknowledge my various recent attempts to contact him, and we have taken steps to rectify that.
Upset I may be, but I take Mr Xenophon at his word and repeated to him what I have stated in previous posts, namely that he did not have to engage with us at all re St Martins, and that I believe that he got us the Parliamentary Inquiry that he knew he could get up, and that any Inquiry with 'genuine powers', etc, would not have been supported by either major party.
I look forward to hearing from Mr Xenophon in the near future, and of course hope he will be returning to Mt Gambier soon.
Tomorrow: The Council Stuff
As promised...and some other stuff...and thank you again for your feedback 'off-blog'...much appreciated...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Yet More Council Propaganda in The Border Watch
Hello Malaysia, Indonesia and Finland...and a retrospective apology because this post doesn't actually get to the advertised topic...and although there's been no hits on the blog this week, hello to Egypt...in a previous post I wondered about the crisis in Egypt and whether this was an expression of democracy to be celebrated or sectarian violence that will only escalate, and events define the answer.
With many hundreds possibly over a thousand protesters dead at the hands of the self-appointed 'Interim' military government, any sense of democratic discussion has long since passed and the future looks extremely bleak...(and of course this has a devastating effect on the Egyptian economy-Ed)...absolutely...internally it is hard to function amidst the chaos, and Egypt's primary 'external' economy, Tourism, has ground to a halt...indeed most of North Africa is 'off-limits' to Tour organisers.
And I'm no fan of Islam, but the impending proposed 're-banning' of the Muslim Brotherhood seems set to cement (sorry about the pun) the sectarian divides that drive this conflict...and almost guarantee a return to 'extremist' action, eg, bombings, targeting tourists, etc...and the more chaos the less likelihood that Tourism will be able to resume in any structured form.
And in Beirut, a massive car bomb outside the Hezbollah headquarters has killed dozens of people, mostly civilians, allegedly in retaliation/retribution for Hezbollah's involvement in Syria, where it is reported that well over 100,000 people have been killed in the two year long Civil War.
This has led to huge numbers fleeing across borders into Jordan, Lebanon, etc, to the extent that nearly 1/4 of Lebanon's population are reportedly Syrian refugees.
And the collision and sinking of a Filipino ferry has left over 200 people missing feared drowned as the search and rescue effort is called off. This would be a nation defining disaster in Australia, but an all too common event in Island nations where sea travel is so prevalent.
Also, news that the Vanuatu government is set to amend their constitution to recognise dual citizenship for the Australian born descendants of people 'stolen' from Vanuatu (and other Pacific Islands) under 'blackbirding'...(which is a polite way of saying Slavery-Ed)...indeed.
'Blackbirding' was the practice of stealing/kidnapping Islanders and transporting them to Australia primarily to be used as unpaid labour in the sugar cane fields. This Amendment would also make it easier for Islanders to work in Australia.
There is also discussion of compensation to those families re the unpaid wages of their ancestors...(and quite right...this is minimal penance for stealing their relatives-Ed)...and there are also moves to officially recognise the anonymous grave sites scattered around various properties in Queensland.
And today August 18th is Long Tan Day, a commemorative celebration of arguably the most famous battle of the American War in Vietnam that occurred on this day in 1966, and that has come to be the day we use in Australia to acknowledge the entire war and our involvement.
I was stunned to learn that many Australian soldiers are still yet to be appropriately recognised for their service in this battle and the broader Vietnam conflict...just how many different ways can our politicians fail these often deeply traumatised Veterans, eg, insufficient Veterans services, failure to recognise properly...(sending them there in the first place-Ed)...indeed...
And the things you see on ABC TV24 at 6am on a Sunday, namely my favourite alleged academic and renowned 'anti-scientific jingoist' Professor Simon Chapman. Again I state, the fact that this person is a 'Professor' at Sydney University is an absolute indictment of Academia in Australia...he is the most unprofessional alleged expert I've ever seen.
He is famous/notorious for his spurious, emotive, unscientific diatribes against Dr Sarah Laurie and anybody else who speaks out against Wind Turbines, and is yet again banging on about 'reviews of studies', etc, but doesn't actually name one single study that allegedly supports his statements...and his usual nonsense about how he has 'researched on the Internet and found over 200 symptoms' and then his usual personal ridicule, eg, "even causing grey hair, can you believe it?" with the usual mocking tone and rolling of the eyes, etc.
'Greying of hair' is a classic symptom/result of extended stress, exhaustion, etc, (as is increased alcohol consumption, another issue mocked by Mr Chapman) that are clearly associated with the problems of Turbines located near some residences, and actually supports the argument against Turbines....
He instead refers to the Victorian Dept of Health who say there is no such thing as problems with Infrasound and the only issue is at audible levels, and this statement made after no testing...it is a political opinion in support of Turbines, not an objective position based on extensive scientific testing.
Anti-Turbine activist Ms Pat Gabb was absolutely unequivocal in her condemnation of all involved, particularly the Turbine companies, who are well versed in how to 'lie, spin, and throw around dollars to buy people' (paraphrase), and referred to Infrasound issues documented in the 1990's (but again no specifics).
There is a new 'physiological effects report' due later this year but the Turbines are already up in many places, and the industry is throwing your/our money (that they get via massive subsidies) at the problem so I'm not holding my breath that any 'new report' will go against the collective political will to dump these monstrosities into rural/regional communities.
If Turbines are so bloody fantastic, then put them 1km off the coast of Adelaide and all along the foothills, and in Port Phillip Bay, etc...it ain't never gonna' happen because they are a 'noise and visual polluting nightmare' that will cost votes.
And the end of the post and I haven't even got to the farcical carry on in The Border Watch re the conduct of Council and the devastating effect their self-focused conduct has had/continues to have on the City of Mt Gambier, so;
Tomorrow: YMCP in TBW- Part II
However, could there be a better example than the hyperbarically hyperbolic TBW headline of Friday August 16th 2013: Clash of the titans - Councillors divided over retention of old hospital laundry structure.
(Hyperbarically hyperbolic?-Ed)...yeah, hyperbole so extreme it takes your breath away...(nice-Ed)...
Clash of the titans?...really?...and would one of those Titans be the legendary 'Farcical'?...rrrrr, release the Farcical...a handful of people, namely Merv White, Ian Von Stanke, and the quite extraordinary Des Mutton, getting together to decide what is best for themselves and their immediate associates...and the rest of the planet doesn't give a fat dead rat's festered clacker...(oh, you poet you-Ed)...
I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry...if it wasn't so serious, it would be hilarious...Clash of the titans...absolutely ridiculous...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...laters...
With many hundreds possibly over a thousand protesters dead at the hands of the self-appointed 'Interim' military government, any sense of democratic discussion has long since passed and the future looks extremely bleak...(and of course this has a devastating effect on the Egyptian economy-Ed)...absolutely...internally it is hard to function amidst the chaos, and Egypt's primary 'external' economy, Tourism, has ground to a halt...indeed most of North Africa is 'off-limits' to Tour organisers.
And I'm no fan of Islam, but the impending proposed 're-banning' of the Muslim Brotherhood seems set to cement (sorry about the pun) the sectarian divides that drive this conflict...and almost guarantee a return to 'extremist' action, eg, bombings, targeting tourists, etc...and the more chaos the less likelihood that Tourism will be able to resume in any structured form.
And in Beirut, a massive car bomb outside the Hezbollah headquarters has killed dozens of people, mostly civilians, allegedly in retaliation/retribution for Hezbollah's involvement in Syria, where it is reported that well over 100,000 people have been killed in the two year long Civil War.
This has led to huge numbers fleeing across borders into Jordan, Lebanon, etc, to the extent that nearly 1/4 of Lebanon's population are reportedly Syrian refugees.
And the collision and sinking of a Filipino ferry has left over 200 people missing feared drowned as the search and rescue effort is called off. This would be a nation defining disaster in Australia, but an all too common event in Island nations where sea travel is so prevalent.
Also, news that the Vanuatu government is set to amend their constitution to recognise dual citizenship for the Australian born descendants of people 'stolen' from Vanuatu (and other Pacific Islands) under 'blackbirding'...(which is a polite way of saying Slavery-Ed)...indeed.
'Blackbirding' was the practice of stealing/kidnapping Islanders and transporting them to Australia primarily to be used as unpaid labour in the sugar cane fields. This Amendment would also make it easier for Islanders to work in Australia.
There is also discussion of compensation to those families re the unpaid wages of their ancestors...(and quite right...this is minimal penance for stealing their relatives-Ed)...and there are also moves to officially recognise the anonymous grave sites scattered around various properties in Queensland.
And today August 18th is Long Tan Day, a commemorative celebration of arguably the most famous battle of the American War in Vietnam that occurred on this day in 1966, and that has come to be the day we use in Australia to acknowledge the entire war and our involvement.
I was stunned to learn that many Australian soldiers are still yet to be appropriately recognised for their service in this battle and the broader Vietnam conflict...just how many different ways can our politicians fail these often deeply traumatised Veterans, eg, insufficient Veterans services, failure to recognise properly...(sending them there in the first place-Ed)...indeed...
And the things you see on ABC TV24 at 6am on a Sunday, namely my favourite alleged academic and renowned 'anti-scientific jingoist' Professor Simon Chapman. Again I state, the fact that this person is a 'Professor' at Sydney University is an absolute indictment of Academia in Australia...he is the most unprofessional alleged expert I've ever seen.
He is famous/notorious for his spurious, emotive, unscientific diatribes against Dr Sarah Laurie and anybody else who speaks out against Wind Turbines, and is yet again banging on about 'reviews of studies', etc, but doesn't actually name one single study that allegedly supports his statements...and his usual nonsense about how he has 'researched on the Internet and found over 200 symptoms' and then his usual personal ridicule, eg, "even causing grey hair, can you believe it?" with the usual mocking tone and rolling of the eyes, etc.
'Greying of hair' is a classic symptom/result of extended stress, exhaustion, etc, (as is increased alcohol consumption, another issue mocked by Mr Chapman) that are clearly associated with the problems of Turbines located near some residences, and actually supports the argument against Turbines....
He instead refers to the Victorian Dept of Health who say there is no such thing as problems with Infrasound and the only issue is at audible levels, and this statement made after no testing...it is a political opinion in support of Turbines, not an objective position based on extensive scientific testing.
Anti-Turbine activist Ms Pat Gabb was absolutely unequivocal in her condemnation of all involved, particularly the Turbine companies, who are well versed in how to 'lie, spin, and throw around dollars to buy people' (paraphrase), and referred to Infrasound issues documented in the 1990's (but again no specifics).
There is a new 'physiological effects report' due later this year but the Turbines are already up in many places, and the industry is throwing your/our money (that they get via massive subsidies) at the problem so I'm not holding my breath that any 'new report' will go against the collective political will to dump these monstrosities into rural/regional communities.
If Turbines are so bloody fantastic, then put them 1km off the coast of Adelaide and all along the foothills, and in Port Phillip Bay, etc...it ain't never gonna' happen because they are a 'noise and visual polluting nightmare' that will cost votes.
And the end of the post and I haven't even got to the farcical carry on in The Border Watch re the conduct of Council and the devastating effect their self-focused conduct has had/continues to have on the City of Mt Gambier, so;
Tomorrow: YMCP in TBW- Part II
However, could there be a better example than the hyperbarically hyperbolic TBW headline of Friday August 16th 2013: Clash of the titans - Councillors divided over retention of old hospital laundry structure.
(Hyperbarically hyperbolic?-Ed)...yeah, hyperbole so extreme it takes your breath away...(nice-Ed)...
Clash of the titans?...really?...and would one of those Titans be the legendary 'Farcical'?...rrrrr, release the Farcical...a handful of people, namely Merv White, Ian Von Stanke, and the quite extraordinary Des Mutton, getting together to decide what is best for themselves and their immediate associates...and the rest of the planet doesn't give a fat dead rat's festered clacker...(oh, you poet you-Ed)...
I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry...if it wasn't so serious, it would be hilarious...Clash of the titans...absolutely ridiculous...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...laters...
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