Howdy and welcome to the blog...and it was a rather odd but glorious 30C today in Mt Gambier, the last twitch of summer...odd because it's very humid, and in MG it's generally quite wet or quite hot, not usually both...nice weather we're having...(I'd prefer if it actually was raining myself-Ed)...rain is good, rain is good, yeah...(the gardens need it-Ed)...yeah, sure...(but it is still quite nice-Ed)...mmhm yes, nice weather...the birds were in the sky...(you can't think of anything positive to say, can you?-Ed)....no, not really?...but I digress...
I'll just have to postpone the Pasin post as promised if but only temporarily...nothing serious but explain later...also it appears that my computer problems are probably likely due to the very slow connection once I go past my 'allowance'...(so you're not being hacked by the FN CIA then, under Operation Git?-Ed)...no, not since I started wearing this very flattering steel colander hat...(don't be so stupid...a metal hat stops the Aliens reading your mind-Ed)...they'll have to find it first...damned if I know what I did with it...
Can't help feeling a little bit like a bit of a little whinger some days and I really wanted to get into a positive post for a pleasant change, ya' know, lighten things up a bit...honest...but yet again mes ami, I am hung out to dry by the totality of my cynicism...(and I'll say it again for the record, 'A Cynic is what an Optimist calls a Realist'-Ed)...so first some stupid jokes.
Mike Rann, Jay Weatherill, Rory McEwen...nah, nah, go' bless go' bless...nothing stupid 'bout those gentlemen and plenty others I've met in recent years...empathetically empty, morally blank, totally and irretrievably corrupted perhaps, but certainly not stupid...(dude, way to lighten things up-Ed)...yeah sorry, here goes...
My Dog Is A Fun Guy: and I'm not just talkin' 'bout his paws................(I think I preferred it when you weren't trying to lighten things up-Ed)...why the big pause?.........(you can stop now-Ed)...I don't know what your problem is, but that mutt is seriously some sort of animal/plant hybrid freak, some sort of walking hairy fungus plant thingy if you will...I've been observing him for quite some time now, and I reckon he can photosynthesise...(fine words sir, but what do they mean?-Ed)...well, he takes in sunlight, Carbon Dioxide, water, and various nutrients, then releases copious amounts of gas into the atmosphere, and creates consistent quantities of large logs...I swear that there's way more comin' outta' that hound than goin' in...it has to be photosynthesise, I can't think of any other explanation...(so your dog farts and poohs alot-Ed)...pretty much...
Back To The Cynicism: For example, I don't ignore the things I see/hear reported about the positive developments in the South East timber industry, and issues of investment and reported expansion at certain mills, etc, and therefore don't write about any of it...the problem I have is that I just really struggle to believe any of it...at best I'm relying on the opinions of people like the highly respected Jerry Leech to fill in the gaps in my knowledge re Forestry, and help me to dissect the debate and negotiate the propaganda.
Furthermore, my own opinion of what has happened with the NF McDonnell Mill receiving funding from the state government, as covered in several previous posts, puts me in a certain context when dealing with this issue, and I try to allow for it but is always there at the front of the debate...'it's a trap' I know to consider through a tinted lens, a tainted lens, but clarity of vision is the first casualty of walking about in this muck all the time...one's senses get dull and jaded...
Similarly, recent reports about a strong Real Estate market in Mt Gambier contradict everything I've heard or seen about increasing numbers of properties for sale, lack of subsequent sale, etc, things that would seem to suggest a depressed market...I appreciate that these reports are often quoting Real Estate Agents, and that they have a vested interest in playing up the market to promote sales...that's just the way it is...
People cannot be completely blamed and crucified for trying to put a positive spin on something that drastically affects their livelihood, and acting in what is the best interests of their clients trying to sell, etc...people are less likely to purchase if the Agent goes into the media saying 'oo, it's pretty bad, we're not selling much'...it can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy...to the other extreme it doesn't really help to say everything's just fine...astute buyers will be fairly aware of what the situation really is, and hearing some-one confidently declare otherwise will only undermine the 'declarer's' credibility.
Liberals To End Homelessness By July 2015: now there's some good news, right?...(except that you've got that wrong...the Federal government has announced that they will continue with $115million funding for programs to address Homelessness, but only for the 12 months July 2014-July 2015...and this has been criticised as a $44m reduction in funding from the Labor program introduced only last year-Ed)...oh, right...so no 'End' in sight for anything other than the funding itself...(yep, sorry-Ed)...and that $44m reduction is more than a 1/4 of this years funding...(yep-Ed).
(And that $44m was for Capital Works which is low-cost housing, other accommodation services infrastructure, etc...and of course only for 12 months-Ed)...yeah, I've heard providers saying that this is merely an under-funded stop-gap measure that leaves them in exactly the same position they were in at this time last year when it was supposedly sorted...and leaves them headed there yet again in June 2015...it's an odd situation where $115m is seen as a gross failure, but that defines the size of the problem.
How does 'the Lucky Country' have just over 100,000 recognised 'Homeless', let alone not enough funding to support them?...and what about couch-surfers, people forced to stay with family, etc, are they counted in this figure?...I was technically homeless for many years through the 1990s but would not have appeared on any list of statistics.
Brocking The First Promise: as South Australia's new treasurer Tom Koutsantonis has flat out refused to explain how Labor will fund it's promise, it's 'assurance' to Member for Frome Geoff Brock to underwrite $150m for the $385m Nyrstar Smelter redevelopment in Pt Pirie if the Feds don't...and when pushed, he denied that the promise had been made at all...this surely let's the Federal government straight off the hook with the perfectly accurate 'we don't have to provide support because the state government has already said they will'...(oh-Ed)...yes, oh...that's $150m that SA taxpayers will have to find...and I don't share Mr Koutsantonis's optimism that he 'can't imagine that the Federal government wouldn't want to support such a great project'...
Mr K closed with the charming albeit accurate observation that if the smelter goes Pt Pirie dies...and it's not my cynicism that directs me to observe that 1 week after the 'deal' that saw Mr Brock support Labor into power, they are already contradicting each other...Brock says 'Labor promised support' and Labor says 'nuh-uh never did'...and that means that one of them's lying...(super-Ed)...
Austere Aust Steer Measures: introduced suddenly by the Gillard Labor government in 2011, caused enormous damage to the Northern Australia cattle industry and had Indonesia looking to countries like Brazil for their 'protein requirements', but new contracts are reportedly regaining a lot of that lost market...and again I want to be happy for the producers involved and the people who will be receiving their beef from Oz, etc, but there are other major issues beyond that.
Not least of all to be considered, and the catalyst for the 2011 ban, is the welfare of the animals...I know it sounds odd to a purist, but the best welfare of all involved would be achieved by slaughtering the cattle in Australia as I've covered in previous posts...(so the cattle's best welfare is slaughter?-Ed)...I knew you'd struggle with that, but hear me out...if we're going to have a 'meat export industry' then we should only export frozen carcasses...and help Indonesia sort out it's own industry to support their 'fresh' meat demands...this creates many jobs here in Oz, allows us to maintain a degree of animal safety and protection, etc...
Yes, it is great for the Australian Livestock Exporters Council, producers, the transport chain, etc, but there are all the environmental issues that are created by cattle farming which leads into a disturbing discussion about the drastic effects of all feral species...for example, the spread of the introduced Cane Toad, from Queensland, across the Top End, and in to Kakadu has been expedited by cattle movements because toads can camp over night on their dung and catch the attracted bugs and soak up the moisture..(deadset-Ed)...apparently...and then goannas, birds, etc, eat the toxic toads and die...(yay-Ed)...
'Armless Food Production: does it exist?...is it possible?...yes and it's relatively simple...and on to the table leaps the 'Eat The Coat of Arms' debate...why don't we just eat everything that shouldn't be there, eg, a million camels, wild pigs, water buffalo, etc, and supplement that with Kangaroo and Emu...these last 2 are widely recognised as being far healthier than more 'traditional' meats, eg, beef, lamb, and pork...clear out the ferals and help a struggling environment...we used to eat whatever we could catch, so let's do it again...enough for today...
Tomorrow: Pegging Criticism Squarely At A Whole New Oval
A great day for Adelaide and therefore the world...something about an oval and a bridge over polluted waters...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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