Hello and welcome to the blog...apols that yesterday's post went a little pear shaped late in the day...today I'll finish this Council meeting first and then fill in some other stuff...
Council continues to drag the Aboriginal flag issue through the mud months after finally declaring that they will consider hanging it in Chambers...have to talk to all the stakeholders and don't want to rush into anything..."Engagement with stakeholders and establishing a process...In Progress...Ongoing planning with Pangula Mannamurna, Burrandies, Aboriginal Corporation and Elders Group. Date to be confirmed for May 2014 Ceremony"...(for May 2014, that's only next month, but no new news on when exactly then-Ed)...nope, not that I'm aware of...
And still nobody at the Umpherston Cave kiosk thingy (vacant since August 2013 approx?) the lease of which is "In Progress...Review of leasing options for this and other Council facilities"...which one assumes includes the Centenary Lookout Tower 'Lease' which I believe is (will be?) again vacant after the most excellent Bob and Viv Peters stepped into the breach just for the holidays...
There was a long report about the Aquatic Centre meeting that marks the end of the season because the pool closes at the end of March...it is an unavoidable irony I guess that this March report should appear at the April Council meeting a fortnight after the pool is closed (until October)...and perfect though I may be, even I can't stroll past this delightful opportunity to lay the boot into Council for their gross failures, deceits, and mismanagement of not only the Covered Pool issue but of that entire sporting precinct...(isn't it called Olympic Park or some such?-Ed)...you know, I reckon you're right...
(And didn't Council lose the International Tennis Tournament from there because they didn't maintain the courts properly?-Ed)...indeed...(and do they still advertise the Mini Golf even though it was removed years ago?-Ed)...well yes they do, and yes it was removed, but maybe they replaced it recently...sorry, just don't know 'bout that one...but for what is supposed to be arguably the South Easts premier sporting facility, there is much work to be done...more tomorrow...
There was also some reference to a couple of things that I'll cover tomorrow re the Rail Lands, etc, and some shenanigans re Greg Muller and the Junior Sports fund...very odd that one...I certainly didn't miss missing Council's March meeting but it's great to be back...
Not Cruisin' For A Bruisin': applies apparently to all the passengers on the Pacific Pearl Precious Princess Party Cruise ship that slid majestically past Robe on it's way to Melbourne...unfortunately Cruise-by Tourism is not what Robe had planned for yesterday when the PPPPPC (not it's real name) sailed right on by without doing it's scheduled stop there...the original plan was that many hundreds of cashed-up tourists were meant to pour ashore and swell the coffers of local Artisans, shop-keeps, hawkers, traders and operators of every ilk...but apparently the swell was too high and the ship couldn't safely transfer passengers to/from shore in their little 'tenders' (boats)...
I understand that said collective vendors were warned to be conservative in their exuberance because these tourists would have everything catered for onboard the ship and were therefore likely to buy very little in the way of food and drinks, more probably looking at fridge magnets and cheap local trinket stuff, maybe a bottle of wine...still, unfortunate that all those people went to all that effort for it to go relatively unrewarded..and apparently there will be harbour improvements by the time of the next cruise due in February 2015.
A Welcome Return To Pagan Rituals: as Treasurer Joe Hockey selflessly offers himself up for sacrifice to supplicate the angry gods of Fiscal Imbalance and Disproportionate Burden...(yeah, not quite...actually Joe is demanding that everyone else make sacrifices to help him with his Budget-Ed)...yeah I know, I was being sarcastic...just listening to the stone cold tripper now on the ABC/BBC mouth-breathing his way through yet another explanation as to why everybody who isn't a Liberal or a politician or a billionaire has to 'sacrifice' a little to help everyone else...(are you sure we can't just sacrifice Joe and leave it at that?-Ed)...yeah, I think that would be frowned upon...by some...
"Nothing is for free...nothing can remain for free"..."ending the Age of Entitlement"...except of course for the travel entitlements, subsidies for meals, massive Superannuation allowances, etc, on top of the extraordinary wages that our elected officials constantly increase for themselves...and Big Joe's big plan is to target the most vulnerable and disenfranchised, low income earners, etc, with this constant dribble about 'everyone doing the heavy lifting', etc..."here, someone help me punch this old person"...
(I've said it before, but every time I hear that 'heavy lifting' nonsense I think Joe's looking for someone to help him get his massive Super funds into the back of his parliamentary vehicle-Ed)...nice...it really is quite sickening to watch these scumbags grovelling about in their very disturbing obsession with ANZAC whilst openly attacking the fundamental ethics of support and succour that we are supposed to embrace as part of our national identity...
Can't help wondering how Aboriginal Australians feel about Joe Hockey's repeated statements that 1 in 3 people born today will live to 100, given that currently Aboriginal life expectancy is still some 20 years shy of the 'Western' average (approx 80 years) because of endemic, epidemic health issues.
The Flying Wombat: But at the same time we've apparently got enough spare cash to drop in a Paid Parental Care Scheme that caters to relatively wealthy upper-middle class wannabe mums, an approx $50billion for some submarines, and another $12billion for another 58 of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters on top of the 14 already ordered...(yay-Ed)...and one side reckons the F-35s are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and critics think it's a flying pig that oinks, grunts, and sucks...(so more of a Flying Wombat than the Flying Kangaroo?-Ed)...indeed...
Alleged problems with the F-35s are well documented and it is already years behind schedule and massively over-budget...(didn't we buy $1b worth of second hand USofA helicopters for our Navy, only to find they couldn't fly over water?-Ed)...that was a few years ago under the Liberal's Brendan Nelson, but yes not a particularly great piece of procurement...and we look set to stick to our guns...(well the USofA's guns-Ed)...to our guns by sticking to their guns...and we all here in Oz will apparently be making a bit of the tail bit so that's great...
Proponents and suppliers say no probs mate, $90million each tops, goes like a dream, you can plug your Ipod into the 5 speaker surround sound system, beautiful...the F-35s critics say it's an absolute dog, will cost $200m each 'cos other countries are pulling back if not yet out (less planes sold, each costs more), and flies like a constipated pig, electronically screaming out 'I'm over here, I'm over here'...but we're still buyin'...
I know it sounds terribly Nationalistic...(and the day before ANZAC Day too-Ed)...and in this specific context I
really don't care, but I do think about what my grandfather went
through as an Australian soldier in World War Two to protect 'our way of life' only to have people like
former SA premier Mike Rann swanning about Europe, high on the stench of his own corruption, funded by the public dollar whilst his equally corrupted political mates are flogging off every chunk of our country they can...selling off a country that people
like my grandfather's generation, and others since, have fought to defend.
And it ain't a great leap from there to...I saw Rory McEwen today, standing in the
Main...and there was a park right there, the traffic was paused at the
light and oh yes I thought about it, but decided I had better things to do...(buy
bananas-Ed)...and moved on down, moved on down the road...just sayin'...it was just before Christmas 2012 he walked out in front of my car near Cave Garden and I had enough time to think about gently laying him down across the bonnet, cheekily clipping him with the front fender, with japesfully cloths-lining him with the door, or getting right up next to him and tooting loudly to make him jump into the oncoming traffic...(that last one's my favourite and certainly what I was calling for-Ed)...ah, happy days...
Tomorrow: Tails of Rails and Happy Trails
Which could be one and the same thing were a dedicated bike trail to be installed along the disused Rail Easement between Mt Gambier and Bordertown...I know I've covered this before but it's a classic idea...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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