GDF Part II

Morning y'all and welcome to the blog...no mucking around today...straight into a thorough review of the year in posts...(not least of all because it's Christmas Eve and hopefully everyone's got much better things to do than read you bangin' on-Ed)...well quite...

But before I cut crook about all and sundry, I ask that readers pause in their celebrations over the next few days to acknowledge those terrible circumstances that beset many people across the globe...the millions displaced in the Philippines, or from Syria, or the Central African Republic, and now the world's newest nation South Sudan...those living in perpetual war zones like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

There is nothing I can say that makes these situations any less confronting and that might bring some sense to what are predominantly the results of our own actions...(as humans-Ed)...quite. It is not inappropriate to celebrate the relative wealth and peace and stability of Australian society, but I feel we are duty bound to appreciate that our levels of personal affluence didn't just happen and that we must continue to strive to support those who support us, eg, primary producers.     

So it is that I celebrate Christmas...just because I'm not having a particularly great time of it currently, across a range of issues, I find so much to celebrate in my own life if I can be bothered to look...and my cynicism and dis-ease with a couple of people...(a couple of people?...seriously?...a couple?...we're coming back to that one-Ed)...whatevs...it doesn't mean that there aren't people who are genuinely doing great things to offer support, and not just at Christmas.

Christmas of course being the Christian assimilation of the Pagan feast of the Winter Solstice, as the Egyptian 'Ankh' symbol was used by early Christians to offer the Pagan European tribes a symbol containing the Crucifix but also resembling the Earth Mother idolism figure prevalent in many cultures...(where do you get this crap?-Ed)...and it has been theorised that the original and very ancient Ankh symbolises an Extra-terrestrial astronaut in a spacesuit...(an alien?-Ed)...I'm just sayin' what they're sayin'...anyhoos...   

So it is that every year around this time I wear with inevitably resigned good humour the avalanche of pro-Lutheran propaganda that I have previously identified (posted) as happening via The Border Watch newspaper and ABC Local Radio...and today's TBW is predictably chockers with super dooper stories about how great the Lutherans are...(and we'll be devoting a full post to that particular effort-Ed)...indeed we will.

I re-iterate: amongst all the horror stories being aired via the Federal Child Abuse Royal Commission, the DeBelle Inquiry and subsequent Parliamentary inquiry, multiple cases being exposed in the media in general, etc, etc, never once have I heard the Lutherans mentioned...not once...

And of course in today's TBW the Christmas message from Mayors Steve Perryman, Peter Gandolfi, and Richard Sage...and Don Pegler's and Tony Pasin's, etc, etc...and the good news is that I'm wrong in my concerns that everything is going to hell in a hand basket because apparently it's all great...everything's great...and only going to get greater...please note heavy sarcasm content in previous statement.

I get it that everybody's gotta talk it up a bit, and particularly around the highly stressed time of Christmas, and with the social conventions of celebration and religion, etc, etc, but it does nothing much for me...(can I just point out that in discussing the local media and senior politicians you've just listed a couple of those 'couple of people'-Ed)...yeah, yeah I know...

(And then you can chuck onto that pile the current and former state Premiers Jay Weatherill and Mike Rann-Ed)...no, I know...(and nearly everyone on City Council-Ed)...only nearly?...I'm either not trying hard enough or really losing my touch...(if by touch you mean grip and if by grip you mean mind, then I concur-Ed)...hilarious...but some other issues      

The Old Hospital Demolition: is all but over and I haven't been past there recently but you can see part of the building still standing...I have no interest in celebrating City Council's indulgence in yet another costly disaster, and I re-iterate my concerns that the legal action against the Receivers will ricochet onto Council and therefore ratepayers, and my personal belief that this is a deliberate set-up to pay millions more to SkyTowers/Boots for a 'worthless' property.

Again, how is it appropriate for that demolition to have proceeded whilst 1) there have been official complaints lodged with the Ombudsman re allegations of corruption and the awarding of the Demolition Contract, and 2) SkyTowers/Boots have a Court action underway that questions the actual value of the building/site? The whole thing reeks...

And again, even if I knew anything more than I've already discussed in previous posts about what was happening with those official complaints I'm fairly sure but not certain that I'm not allowed to talk about it anyway...(but, being public knowledge and as discussed in various media coverage, it is appropriate to say that there are criteria in place that effectively direct any allegations of corruption made to the Ombudsman, to then be forwarded to the Office of Public Integrity and/or the Independent Commission Against Corruption-Ed)...indeed.

Beyond that, I have almost no idea what is or isn't happening...and even if I did know all I can say is that the buildings all but down, and the monies gone and the whole thing reeks...

I'll finish here and will post tomorrow to make up that missed day but I genuinely hope that everyone's got many better things to do tomorrow so I'll catch you,

Tomorrow: For More GDF Shizzle 

 or failing that, after Christmas...Merry Christmas all...

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my Christmas Eve post on this here my blog...Seasons Greetings and cheers and laters...