A Secret Contingent: of Aussie SAS (Special Air Service) forces and aircraft and crews are apparently sneakily, stealthily headed for Iraq via Qatar or somewheres...(wow, how did you hear that? you must have a great source-Ed)...it was on the news...(on the news? but I thought you said it was a secr...-Ed)...shhh, shhh, there there my precious, don't you worry your pretty little head...(piss off-Ed)...fair enough...(how can it be a secret if it's being reported on the TV news, reported even as it's happening, as they're on their way?-Ed)...no idea...
Mothers Are Getting Lazier: according to a report I saw about a premature baby that survived being 'born' at only 24 weeks, compared to a full term of approx 40 weeks (9 months)...(um, I think that was actually about the miraculous survival of the child, not the attitude of the mother-Ed)...ah yes, but read between the lines...more and more women are getting Caesarian births (an operation in through the belly) and there are more and more increasingly prem babies...women clearly aren't committing to child bearing and birth the way they used to in the good 'ol days...(the good 'ol days when that baby would have died?-Ed)...well...I...
(Like the good 'ol days when women frequently also died in childbirth, the way they still do in some societies?-Ed)..no no, calm down that's not what I meant...I was just crackin' wise about the above statistical data...and there are serious concerns being expressed that Caesarian birth is increasingly common as a 'cosmetic' choice not a medical necessity...(well wouldn't you? rather that than push a pup out through ya' groin, geezzzz-Ed)...oh look, I've been at a birth and I really don't see what all the fuss is about...sure, there was lots of screaming and swearing and drugs and shizzle...(and the mother wasn't much better?-Ed)...orrr, no fair, that was my joke and you just ruined it...
More Good News: as the/a GP Shared Care Mental Health programme is axed because the worker involved has quit/left/whatevs, but (Country?) Health SA maintain that they are very confident that they'll be able to recruit all the personnel and specialists that they need for the 'new MH Clinic/ward thingy' at the Mt Gambier Hospital, including a resident psychiatrist...again, as explained to me by a professional in the field, the South East ought to have 6 resident psychiatrists for the population base, but we have none, and there is virtually no Drug/Alcohol services, incredibly limited psychology services, etc, etc...across the board, these services are borderline non-existent...
(You forgot to mention absolutely no Child Protection Services-Ed)...no, I chose to not mention that because it's likely to send me off on a vitriolic diatribe about the institutionalised pro-paedophile corruption of South Australia, as evidenced by the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...a diatribe starting with the Mt Gambier Mayor Steve Perryman, working it's way through basically all our local Mayors and public officials, eg, Peter Gandolfi, elected Members of Parliament Rory McEwen and Don Pegler, and multiple other senior public figures, eg, City Councillor and serial Labor candidate Jim Maher, etc, etc...
And a charming interview with Liberal Member for Barker Tony Pasin about what great things Tony Abbott and his homies are doing for Aboriginal people across Oz...(you mean by slashing already massively inadequate funding and scrapping multiple programs, and then giving Service Organisations only one month to completely review and/or re-structure, etc, and then re-apply for funding-Ed)...yeah, that'd be the one...and Mr Pasin stated 'we've gotta' long way to go to Bridge the Gap', carefully emphasised with an exasperated sigh...it was one long 'oh gee whiz'...
To The Meat Of The Matter: today, the attached The Border Watch article by Graham Greenwood...for what it's worth I have let several recent GG articles through to the keeper unscathed because I feel it is poor form to just hammer someone over and over...(unless you feel like it-Ed)...oh yeah, unless I feel like it, then it's all good, hammer away...I will however re-observe that Mr Greenwood has a rather unfortunate habit/history of writing about issues in the manner and with the authority of someone who had actually been at those meetings, etc...(he does doesn't he-Ed)...and on many issues is clearly being provided information from other sources, eg, Council...
**Now Wednesday 17th September** and have a wild guess who lobbed at the Council meeting last evening...(well given that you've just mentioned him, Graham Greenwood?-Ed)...give that imagined literary device a prize...(Oi!-Ed)...what? you are an imagined literary device utilised to present this 'ere blog in a more engaging format...(oh yeah, sorry-Ed)...yes, there he was, with a group of 4 The Border Watch cadet journalists, apparently educatings 'em about the fine art of Definitive Dissertation Despite Positional Placement Deficit...(whaaa?-Ed)...writng about shizzle as though you were there but actually weren't...(ah yes, with you now-Ed)...yeah GG was there, and Mr Burt and a bunch of people I didn't know...oh, and Barney McCusker dropped by for a bit of Liberal Party self-congratulation...
How many times have I sat there with one or two others and on a couple of occasions alone, and then 2 months out from an election and the galleries full of candidates, etc...(would you rather no-one showed up still?-Ed)...no, good point Ed, better that than no-one...
Ironically, I've just partially undermined my own position re Mr Greenwood's efforts whilst fully confirming it...(oh I hate it when you do this...okay, why does it undermine yet confirm?-Ed)...because if Mr Greenwood is getting his information from Council, then of course what he writes is going to look like he's writing on behalf of Council, it's not necessarily a conscious decision to be biased, misinformed, and massively biased in favour of Council...(yeah, but what about that article he wrote that you've referred to in this 'ere blog, the one where 4 times he called for/suggested/mentioned/whatevs an Inquiry into the Main Corner project?-Ed)...no, fair enough, but what of it? has anything happened?...(well no, but that's not his fault really-Ed)...ok, but maybe let's just focus on this article for now...
I'm not going to pick this apart, but here's a few dot points;
1) Council already had possession of the Rail Lands for 4 years when they received $5m and blew it on the Library and Main Corner, completely ignoring the Rail Lands, the Aquatic Centre, the Tennis Courts (which lead to the loss of the International tournament), etc;
2) it is absolutely unsupportable to state that public opinion has forced Council to do anything...ever...and blaming 'the community' for Council's actions is absolutely unacceptable...
3) the reason Council had 4 major projects on it's hands was because of It's decisions and It's desires;
4) Council flatly refused to listen to the huge public support to put the Bus Terminal at/on the Rail Lands so as to not compromise Council's Rail Lands Retail Agenda;
5) and Bingo!, "One initial suggestion was to extend the retail hub of the Centro Plaza..."...(but Council has presented multiple plans for Retail/Commercial on the Rail Lands, first in 2005, then 2006, then 2009, and then even some in the November 2011 $10m Parklands Concept Plan-Ed)...indeed;
6) this is apparently the "final plan"...(but there's no plans or money for the Old Rail Station to be renovated...what's happening with that? and where's the other $5.7m?-Ed)...ask Council mate...
7) "...nothing in the plan for commercial shopping"...I repeat, everything that Council has eventually done on that site is in pursuit of their original RLRA...push everything out the way, including the Rail Easement, to clear the footprint for the building and whack in a ludicrous drainage pond for the roof catchment of the proposed building, and use Palm trees that can easily be moved when necessary...
8)..the bloody sculptures again...Council's Micheal Silvy clearly stated on ABC Local Radio that the 'Public Artwork' is a non-negotiable prerequisite for receiving the $2m in state funding;
9) again, $350k for extending the platform, a completely unnecessary project, and is there $100k for the Old Station itself? Mr Silvy seemed to back away from that on the ABC...the building is riddled with Asbestos, half of it internally currently closed off...the entire building needs to be 'de-contaminated', there's no way that you can just plonk a new roof on it;
10) "on budget"...last year Council voted to double their borrowing capacity with the justification that they needed $2.3m for the Rail Lands, and received the other $2m in grants...how is that 'staying in budget';
11) and let's have a party there and try to explain it to people...(classic-Ed)...
I re-iterate my belief that 1) Council has at all times been, and currently remains, committed to the Rail Lands Retail Agenda, with devastating results for Mt Gambier, and 2) that I have provided the evidence to support this position...
Tomorrow: A Long List Of Apologies
Particularly to regular availees of this 'ere blog, because I stated previously that I wouldn't run for Council at the upcoming November 2014 Local Government Election, but yesterday I lodged my candidacy for the Mayorship...whilst I was never going to try for Councillor, for the reasons stated in previous posts, ultimately I thought, given that I have so much to say about the actions of the current Council, that it was the responsible thing to do to run, as I've tried to do at previous elections...(fair enough-Ed)...
Council never met a tree that they didn't think looks better lying down, but I was very disappointed to see that recent carpark renovations have seen most of the trees removed, and it's not looking good for the very few remaining...embrace your inner hippy today, go hug a tree...(hippy-Ed)...ci...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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