Hello Czech Republic, India, France, and the USofA, and welcome to the blog for another sweltering day in sunny Mt Gambier...39C+ yesterday, 41C today, and so on for the rest of the week...compared to similar temperatures below zero across the USofA...never been in a blizzard but can't help feeling that I'd prefer the heat...and today, given all the feedback/housekeeping to be done, the Rail Lands stuff has been pushed...(again?-Ed)...again.
Another relatively minor bushfire in foothills just east of Perth, Western Australia, has destroyed 50+ homes and taken a life, a man trying to defend his home...and as terrible as it is, as individually devastating as this is, it's still only a small event compared to what could have happened...(could still happen-Ed)...well quite, that fire's still burning...and a terrifying preview of what could happen in the Adelaide Hills or even here in Mt Gambier.
In previous posts I've covered my concerns about the massive fuel load in the Lakes area, a situation that has been greatly exacerbated by Mt Gambier City Council's practice of felling trees and just leaving them there to rot, thus creating a landscape of ready-to-burn bonfires right on the cities outskirts...and for a Council that has millions to burn (sorry for that unintended pun) on, amongst other things, a pointless and unbelievably ugly Main St 'revamp', there is simply no excuse for this ludicrous 'drop and rot' practice.
And I'll play the game...I know Council is monitoring this blog and that is why I put it to them that they are responsible for creating a potentially deadly situation around the Lakes...if a fire were to get going in there, it will be unstoppable...and you don't need some dickhead throwing a cigarette butt, let alone a deliberate Arsonist, because tourist barbecues, lightning strikes, etc, all start fires and the fire don't care why or how.
I caught the tail-end of an interview with a WA 'bushfire expert' who stated the obvious about the obvious...if we build our homes in the middle of forests then they are going to get destroyed when the inevitable bush fire happens...better building design and placement, etc, may help to mitigate some losses, but in a 'wild fire' there is virtually no protective measure that will save a home, eg, it doesn't matter how well you tidy up and prepare, etc, if a large fire gets going, chances are it will destroy everything in it's path.
In the unlikely event I ever build in amongst trees, I'll be installing those metal shutters and an internal sprinkler system, including in the roof, connected to an independent 'fire-proof' water source to 'flood' the inside of the house...with the usual fire prevention measures of sealing the roof correctly, removing excess undergrowth and leaf litter, etc, this 'wetting' may be enough to save a home...I think most people would prefer to renovate a saturated home than bulldoze a pile of smouldering rubble.
Institutional Child Abuse Inquiry: has just begun in Britain and one can only hope that it's more genuine than our Australian equivalent, but even then it will only cover from 1922-1995...(only? that's nearly 70 years-Ed)...yes, but stops 18 years ago...there's been no institutionalised Abuse issues since 1995?...(I think it's focusing on institutions and political/social practices that supposedly, largely don't exist anymore, eg, single mothers having their children taken and put into 'homes'-Ed)...yeah, still...
I know my cynicism tends to run away with me on occasion...(I'd have said straps a saddle on ya' and rides ya' round the yard 'til ya' drop-Ed)...but I maintain that the Australian Royal Commission will ignore more abuse than it addresses, and whilst I appreciate that some people will benefit from 'talking' about their horrendous experiences, and getting that sense that someone believes them and cares, etc, I know as fact that this will be used as a justification for a failure to charge and gaol high-ranking officials and other offenders.
It is not good enough to just let people talk...and all due and very genuine respect but it is contextually irrelevant what those individuals think and/or feel about perpetrators being charged, etc, because of the potential that the perp has offended against multiple victims...pursuit of one instance of abuse can invariably lead to other charges...(unless you're (then) Labor police Minister Bernard Finnigan, in which case you have 2 dozen charges whittled down to one over a period of 3+ years-Ed)...well indeed...(has that actually gone to Court yet?-Ed)...nah, don't be ridiculous, the state election isn't until March 2014...(of course, they'll have to wait until after that-Ed).
This 'talking resolves it' position is regularly used by authorities to justify a failure to act...and then the next wall of denial is 'how people will be treated in an adversarial Court situation with the potential to further traumatise the victim'...(well how's about having a Court system that provides appropriate separation between abusers and the children that they prey on instead of this open slather lunacy of the rights of the abuser?-Ed)...precisely, geez you're good.
Appropriate structures and processes that reduce the 're-stressing' of the victim, eg, video links so that the perpetrator is not in the same room thus intimidating and re-traumatising witnesses are readily available and don't impinge on anyone's rights...providing appropriate counseling in tandem with legal proceedings that see perpetrators and those who have protected them in gaol is surely more productive and socially responsible than 'talking' about a perpetrator and 'making recommendations'...
(There is of course one issue that nobody wants to talk about-Ed)...ain't that the truth...St Martins Lutheran School...
The Lights Are On: but apparently there's not always someone at home at Mt Gambier Police Station. I am aware that there have been reductions in the 'operating hours' of the Millicent Police Station but it appears that there are also issues with Mt Gambier because I have heard several odd tales of people attending MGPS and finding themselves the only one there...(sorry, what?...there's no police there?-Ed)...basically, yeah, but also the statement that the civilians often attending the front desk duties are actually volunteers...(sorry what again?-Ed)...
Well the volunteer stuff first...I know that there have been 'civilians' operating as office staff and taking inquiries/reports at the front desk, etc, not least of all because I've dealt with them several times recently, but apparently they are volunteers, not salaried staff...I do recall something about this being mentioned several years ago but as a possibility not a likelihood...the obvious question - what does an unarmed civilian (volunteer or paid) do when a violent incident kicks off in the foyer, as has been known to happen?
This might explain some of the strange incidents I have been told about where people have attended MGPS but no-one came to the counter or the station was shut and no-one answered the bell...maybe if the civilian is the only person there, they are directed to not answer...(well yeah, but that doesn't explain why people could get into the station but no-one came to the desk-Ed)...oh yeah, good point...it might explain why someone went there just after dark recently to report a minor collision and repeatedly rang the bell and banged on the window but no-one answered, but it doesn't explain the alleged incidents where people have been left standing at the counter during the day, ignored until they've just walked out.
With the 'closed' incident I am aware that the person rang police and reckons that their call went through to a call centre not the station, a question/accusation which the responder denied...don't know, but I could understand if there were only unarmed civilians in the building that they wouldn't answer the door after dark...and I apologise if there has been an advertised reduction in 'office hours' at MGPS and I've missed it, but to my current understanding it is currently meant to be a 24hr station.
Sorry to come at you with questions sans resolve, but I will try to check this out and post...although I'm not immediately sure as to how to access that information...if there has been an 'unofficial' reduction in services at MGPS, they're hardly going to tell me...(damn straight-Ed)...
And I hate to do this 'I told ya' so' on such a critical issue, but the ABC Radio is just now identifying and warning about turbulent 'thunderhead' activity across South Australia due to the heat and evaporation, and the very real potential for lightning strikes to start fires...please don't be fooled by the heavy green tinge still apparent around Mt Gambier because it's bone dry at ground level and that green will turn to brown real fast in this heat...
Again I urge Council, anybody, to get to the Lakes and sort out this potential disaster before Mother Nature does it the ol' fashioned way...(what?-Ed)...a major fire...(oh right yes-Ed)...
Tomorrow: Two Old Favourites
The Rail Lands stuff and the Old Hospital demolition...make it 3, Wind Turbines...you know, if you just ignore all of the massive costs, related nepotism and other corruption, abject pointlessness, etc, of these 3 issues, they're not quite so bad.
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and stay cool...(or warm if you're in the Northern hemisphere-Ed)...indeed...and also laters.
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