Hello and welcome to the blog...thankyou for your patronage across the weekend...and I know it's my own 'bad' because I forgot to register my car, but being a Sunday there's no public transport (bus) in Mt Gambier which means I won't be going too far today because my knee is giving me grief after yesterday's 3kms walk to the shop and back...
(Well that's an excellent opportunity to catch up with lots of this housework that clearly needs doing-Ed)...well now there's cause for celebration, there's crap everywhere, it's going to take forever...and the gardens an absolute jungle with vaguely defined paths through the undergrowth...and as always my complaining is a trite tool to accommodate seguing into the fact that I choose to celebrate that I have stuff that needs to be dusted, etc, all over my lovely little home...(even if it isn't actually your house-Ed)...even then...and the glory of whoever's creation that is my beautiful garden.
The sense of loss and trauma that dogs me every day as I trawl back over the last 10-12 years does not completely remove from me the ability to celebrate the fortune of the unfortunate...(whaaa?-Ed)...I have a poverty level income (the DSP) and a Housing Trust home, both generally recognised accoutrements of the disenfranchised, but I live in relative luxury on a global scale...I'm not on the streets nor am I starving.
I am not 'gainfully' employed, haven't been since 2000, but that doesn't mean that I have not busted my back, eg, volunteer work for the Lutherans or for Lifeline, etc, in contexts where I was not obliged in any way to do so...and now I work full-time as a 'political activist', wholly committed to addressing the critical issues that affect my community, and that inevitably leads to the crippling corruption that defines how South Australia functions.
At no stage have I sought to be an 'Anti-Corruption' campaigner or anything specifically like that, but it is an act of the most horrendous and rank corruption, the St Martins Cover-up, that dragged me into this situation and has taken such a toll on me, so it is inevitable that I would push back against that stuff...who's fault is it that dealing with Mt Gambier City Council means that one immediately finds oneself neck deep in nepotism, constantly trading blows over corrupt Insider Trading, and mired in a morass of malfeasance?
(Well I would suggest it's Council's fault-Ed)...indeed...I didn't come up with the Rail Lands Retail Agenda and all of the malfeasance and fraud and gross nepotism associated with that mindset, I just gave it a name and sent it out into the light...but to what effect?...nothing, nobody did bugger-all to stop it...Mt Gambier keeps just plodding along, slowly dying, and the vultures on Council continue to pick the bones...
But First: just for a laugh...there was recent reportage (ABC/BBC?)
of a study that found that at any wedding it is likely that the
getting-married couple will have an average of 2 former partners at the
ceremony...this immediately put me in mind of my Pops who had a very
witty saying covering that exact scenario;
"They'll all have 'personal relationed' each other, and the bride'll wear white."
(Mmm, sob, that's, just beautiful, sob-Ed)...yeah, he was quite the old romantic was Pops...oh, and he didn't say 'personal relationed' either...
Not Sorry: Again I do not apologise for 'confronting' Rory McEwen last Friday 28th February 2014 as he sat grinning inanely, handing out How To Vote flyers for alleged Independent Don Pegler...nor for yesterday's post criticising aspects of the Fork and Cork Festival...it is purely symptomatic of my current existence, an existence that has been foisted on me by the rank corruption of others, predominantly stemming from the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up.
In many respects I wish that I wasn't as aware as I am of the rank corruption that defines the actions of Mt Gambier City Council as clearly defined in previous posts...and the rank pro-paedophile corruption of South Australian state parliament, Labor and Liberal...in many respects I envy those who live in relative ignorance...(two old sayings come to mind-Ed)...oh yeah...(that old 'curse' - 'may you live in interesting times'-Ed)...indeed...(and 'ignorance is bliss'-Ed)...quite.
Feedback: helps me to modify my behaviour and the content and tone of my blog...again, I do take this blog very seriously even if there are occasional attempts at humour...I'm not proud of some of the language in early posts, but they are entirely indicative of my sense of bewilderment and associated anger and trauma re St Martins...I try hard to be aware of, own, and identify my cynicism and resentment and how it might compromise my opinion, eg, there's so many things going on with the Fork and Cork Festival outside of the actual event itself.
It was not a case of just howling it down for something to get upset about, I have covered in many posts the concept of 'Bread and Circuses' governing and the damage it does...('The Bowl' is a perfect example of this, where a profitable state asset, the South East Forestry Estate was ludicrously sold off for only 2/3 of it's book value, all to rush ahead with a barely thought out plan to scrap a perfectly good Adelaide Oval and get 'The Bowl' completed in time for the next election-Ed)...
I find very little to celebrate with the Festival and the Fringe and the Clipsal and that bloody bike race...I realise that I personally am completely cold to these things as being farcical distractions from the unpleasant realities gathering around Adelaide...and when Adelaide's in trouble, it will continue to destroy the rest of the state to prolong the inevitable...despite all it's efforts, Adelaide teeters constantly on the edge of global irrelevance...it is set to be the first Australian Detroit.
And what is 'The Bowl'?...(the 'new' Adelaide Oval...it looks like a toilet bowl from above-Ed)...ah,
of course, it does look like a toilet seat in a men's convenience, with
the bit removed so one doesn't urinate on the seat...but we digress...
The Green Army: if you are going to force people into part-time jobs, no problem, I am an absolute supporter of Work For The Dole programs...there are many good things about WFTD programs and I found it personally very helpful...but it is unacceptable to not pay the minimum wage for that work along with appropriate insurances, etc...what is being proposed by the Federal Liberal Party is very close to indentured labour.
And why is this 'Green Army' restricted to 18-25 year olds?...this would offer perfect opportunities for people like myself to re-integrate with the structure and authority of a workplace and reclaim a sense of worth and purpose that unemployment often 'sucks' out of people...it is a well documented, vicious downward spiral...what about all those mums getting their Child Support payments axed and dumped back onto Newstart when their youngest kid turns 8?...this sort of program would be perfect, but I can't imagine many of them would be under 25.
Similar attention to job search criteria and the Disability Support Pension must also be treated with respect for the individuals affected not the bottom-line of the budget...proposed changes to increase travel distances/times for all NewStart applicants and a lowering of the DSP for new applicants would do very little to help people...it's already a stipulation of NewStart that applicants must be prepared to accept a job that requires a 3hr round trip commute...but what if you rely on public transport?
It's ludicrous to suggest that someone in Mt Gambier must take a job in Penola or Millicent, both only 30mins away, because there's simply no way to get there...even in Mt Gambier you cannot access a standard 9-5 job because the buses only run starting at 9am and finish at 5pm, and there's nothing at all weekends or public holidays.
Not having a car this weekend has sharply reminded me of the severe limitations of relying on the very limited public transport in Mt Gambier...and other Regional centres in SA don't have any...(a quick gripe if I may about the latest 'free transport' announcement re people who buy tickets for football games at the 'The Bowl' will have their own free shuttle bus to run them around and won't have to pay on other public transport on their way to a game-Ed)...ah, yes, as announced by a public servant to promote Labor but get around the Election 'care-taker' provisions that disallow such declarations.
It's a simple but perfect example...free buses for Adelaide, again, whilst there's nothing even available, let alone free, in Mt Gambier...anyhoos, enough for today's rambley post of self-justification, but there's some gritty grains of truth in there if one cares to chew then over.
Tomorrow: Salad Days of Shredded Letters
More politics where clearly it's their fault but I'm responsible for all that's good.
I am Nick Fletcher and as per always I put my name...(for what it's worth-Ed)...to this here my blog...much appreciationing for your continuing patronagisations of this here production...cheers big ears and laters alligators...
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