And because I look at these things, albeit from over the horizon, I am very much aware of the life of relative luxury and security I enjoy as an Australian citizen who receives the Disability Support Pension and a beautiful little Housing Trust (Housing SA) place...and excuse me if I do look upon this place as my home not as 'Emergency whatevs' as is the current political expediency for tossing people out of their homes to scrimp pennies for the benefit of well-heeled others...the egalitarian SA doesn't exist anymore if it ever did, certainly dead as a Dodo re the Labor Party, it's all about born-to-rule attitudes and gluttonous accumulation and consumption at the taxpayers expense...
And the first cab off the rank this mornin' is the ABC callin' out to their homies to call in with their opinion about the impending sale of the Showgrounds to a large retailer...'whatcha thinka' that?' they says as opposition to the sale clearly grows...personally, I've heard nuffin', not nuffin'...(didn't you ring them yesterday-Ed)...orrr yeah, sorry, I rang ALDI and spoke to a customer service woman and briefly explained what was happening and asked to speak to Managing Director David Zalunardo about the email I sent him on Wednesday 8th October, without any response...
She went off-line for a minute and came back saying that there was no-one I could talk to...very politely including several apologies, I stated that I knew this conversation was being recorded for 'training purposes' and that this was disgraceful behaviour from ALDI and that I considered it to be very poor form...(very poor form indeed sir, very poor form indeed-Ed)...and that this was an indication that there were concerns to be had about the nature of this deal...
The ABC is stating as 'confirmed' that ALDI have 'made an offer' for the Showgrounds site and that members will vote on this on Thursday, and as this sentence is being finished later in the day...(let's do the Time Warp again-Ed)...it's also front page of The Border Watch what I went out and got after starting this sentence before coming back and finishing it now...now...
More comments from the ABC...could be a very lucrative offer...ALDI might go elsewhere anyway...more jobs...why? many empty sites around town...ALDI yes, sell Showgrounds yes...need new site and grounds unused...corner bad choice re traffic...a few 'yeses' and many 'nos'...and I don't think that many people really appreciate what a disaster that would be to sell-off that site for anything, let alone the mundanicity of yet another supermarket...
ALDI may be great, bully for them, but I withdraw my specific support for them coming to Mt Gambier because of what appears to be a seriously disingenuous and duplicitous attempt to secretly buy-up the Showgrounds that has been effectively exposed, and rather than front the fall-out, they are clearly looking to avoid scrutiny, even now...I may just be some Loose Unit Large Angry Hippy with grandeous delusions of Mayoral proportion, but ignoring me or anyone else is not the thing to do...
Then it was advertising (repeatedly on the ABC) the Candidates Forum for the Tatiara Council Mayoral candidates as being aired from Bordertown Civic Centre at 0905 Wednesday 15th October 2014 (tomorrrow) and then suddenly at 0700hrs on the ABC it's Stuart Stansfield stating that coming up he'll be talking to 2 of the Mt Gambier Mayoral candidates in 'the first of our head-to-head discussions with the Candidates', apparently...(so when are you on?-Ed)...haven't heard not a thing about not nuthin'...
It's High Time: but New South Wales has started to creep toward clinical trials of Medicinal Marijuana...and our charming Health Minister Jack Snelling, whilst using heavily loaded language like 'supposed benefit' in stating that it's not for politicians to decide, and ignoring that back in July he opposed it, well now it's all about how we won't be doing anything but oh yay we support the NSW trial...(may I?-Ed)...if you don't I will...(fair enough-Ed)...
(Dear Mr Snelling, Just a quick line to let you know that there are people all over the world including right here in Sow Straya who don't give a damn what you think and use Medicinal Marijuana daily because it works, and your bigotted recalcitrance on this issue makes those people criminals. Well done sir. Yours-Ed)...couldn't have said it better myself, though I would have probably more greatly emphasised the 'nobody cares what you think' bit...
And the 6 SAPol officers facing charges story has bobbed up on Morning TV ínterstate and it's all over the radio news, etc, and it's all the usual suspects being quoted as saying that everything's just fine...(just fine-Ed)...I rang the ABC yesterday when this was on and explained my experience with this ludicrous set-up and when I said my name the bloke said 'sorry we can't put you to air' and hung-up...it wasn't rude so much as matter-of-fact...this whole thing stinks like a bucket a' red-herrings in the midday sun with 6 scapegoats right in the firing line...oops, and news just in that 2 more SAPol officers have been charged...
A Laying On Of Hands: and how symbolic of his Catholic substrate that PM Tony Abbott has vowed to squirrel-grip Russian President Vladimir Putin when the Vladstar rocks up to Oz for the OMG20 meetings to be held in Brisbane...(sounds like the OMG20 meetings are not the only thing being held, chortle fnyarck snigger-Ed)...indeed...but seriously, PMTA has apparently stated that he's going to "shirt-front" Vlad 'The Lad' Putin...(nooo!?Ed)...orrr yeah, and then tried to back away from it as being a metaphor for 'a stern talking to'...(problem is that when you keep flingin' mud at people it's not long before ya' run outta' the moral high-ground-Ed)...
And away we go with the first of a number of head to head debates, apparently...and it's Messrs David Burt and Leon Rigopoulous both from 'the education sphere' with Mr Burt running the Independent Learning Centre and Mr Rigopolous running Kip McGrath Education...I've typed some jumbled notes so here goes nuthin'...
Mr Burt Says: since 1992 he was in the Education Dept...'good to me', etc...something about having prospered and payback...then Mr Rigopolous says...it's the people's choice..."I'm of the people"...I'll be a people's Mayor...honour and privilege to have been raised and educated in Mt Gambier...2 boys, married, got a business helping the children...stronger ratepayers representation...What Has Council Done Well? DB-outstanding landmark projects, eg, the Hospital...the railway lands is a stand out...the Main Corner-some division but spectacular in own right...mistakes-consultation levels on large budget items...and LR-not for me to speculate mistakes...elected members make decisions, some good, some not good...it's the will of the people...not for me too specify mistakes but to represent interests of people with forums and communication...
What Needs Changing?... DB not a great deal needs changing...being optimistic...ALDI issues, be optimistic...people complain about colour of pavers, etc, but the dust should have settled...'adopt that ethic moving forward' of 'optimism being infectious'...no negatives about candidates or city...lots of optimism, positive examples...LR-I'm forward thinking, what's done is done...get sustainable jobs for the youth, government incentives to business...social connection and sustainable world class facilities increase population...Final Pitch...LR-'my handshake is as good as my promise'...people will elect who they want...DB-excited and thrilled to be in studio...we have to fund ourselves...thrilled...The End
Now this is admittedly a rather disjointed broad paraphrasing but OMG, what a vacuous load of nonsense...loads of everything's just fantastic, it's all Unicorns and Sugar Plum Fairies and let's move forward...(and so much bullshit about not looking back...over and over, from both of them...it's farcical, I mean, how can you deal with Mt Gambier's future without dealing with the gross fiscal mismanagement of this current Council and how that completely compromises Councils for decades to come?-Ed)...indeed...and a caller wants working together with other Councils for industry and being pro-active...
And then a quick throw away reference that because there are so many candidates they'll (ABC) try to cover most across breakfast and morning programs and do some on-line...so they're going to give their preferred candidates airtime and I'll get my comments poached from The Border Watch and/or the Community Action for Sustainability forum and heavily edited and dumped on-line at some point...(but don't the ABC have to-the-second equal coverage regulations re candidate's airtime in election coverage?-Ed)...geez you're good Ed...(well ya' know, one does what one can, doesn't one?-Ed)...indeed the ABC does have very, very strict self-regulation on this issue, but I am apparently special so I'm sure I get special rules from the ABC...again...
And the SA Independent Commission Against Corruption has apparently released it's first annual report today...haven't seen it yet but I heard mention 70+ investigations and of course there was the that big article from The Advertiser that I posted about about a month ago, where-in ICAC Commissioner Bruce Lander stated that there was no institutionalised corruption in SA...today he was stating that there are concerns with some Ministerial staffers and using emails inappropriately, etc...and then the discussion turned toward changing legislation to address issues of emails and social media...
(Call me a cynic, but that sounds awfully like ramping up the justification for a whole new series of laws aimed at people who do social sites, and buffoons who blog, etc-Ed)...guilty as charged, possibly...just for the record, I agree that this sounded like excuses ahead of another raft of legislation from the same people who bought you the rank Fascism of the Wind Turbine legislation that removes any right to oppose Turbine developments in the Courts, and similar choice chunks of De-democracising...(and not a mention of a Minister or a senior SAPol officer or a senior public servant?-Ed)...not nuffin'...not nuffin' but an avalanche of self-congratulatory denial of reality from Premier Jay Weatherill et al...
Tomorrow: The Latest Pool Foolery
Sorry didn't get to it today, again, but there's so much to cover in that one piece...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...
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