A Picture Paints 1,000 Words:...or in this case leaves one rendered momentarily speechless with convulsive fits of laughter, 'cos just below, here's the photographic proof (The Border Watch 1st March 2016) re my first Tale of Hilarity, namely the shamefully painful experience of sitting through this high-farce at the February meeting of the Mt Gambier City Council...(I thought you'd said that any meeting conducted by the MGCC was a 'shamefully painful high-farce'?-Ed)...no, what I actually said was that any/every MGCC meeting is a diabolical debasco, a farcical festival of 1) gross fiscal mismanagement, 2) insidiously incestuous nepotism intimately entwined with, 3) a proliferation of perpetual Conflicts of Interests, all in all, 4) just ya' standard Ship A' Fools adrift and becalmed on a Raft of Rank Corruption...(ahhh yeah, that's right, that's what ya' said-Ed)...anyhoos...
I attended said MGCC meeting and was standin' in the foyer/reception bit just outside the Chamber(s) proper, gettin' my pens and paper, etc, ready...(is that the stuff about how you stand outside until the Mayor enters and the meeting therefore officially starts and no-one's allowed to speak?-Ed)...yep...('cos you've unwittingly outwitted yourself by realising that prior to Mayor Lee's triumphal entrance, the meeting hasn't officially started and therefore it's just a room with people in it?-Ed)...yeah...(and therefore there's nothing from stopping you saying a few choice words to a few choice heads?-Ed)...yeah yeah...(so's now you have to wait outside or you'll be talking heads?-Ed)...yeah yeah, you're hilarious...(well mate, I wouldn't stress about that few minutes 'cos your just showing-up there clearly pisses-off the vast majority of people in that room, causes distress enough for most, and I for one find that sublimely hilarious-Ed)...it is kinda' funny...and so to this last meeting...
My mate...(maaate-Ed)...former Mayor now Councillor Steve Perryman, has again been making a point of coming-up right behind me or otherwise approaching me pre-meeting, and hailing me with deeply cynical but smiling salutations, in what is clearly a continuation of his preoccupation with trying to provoke me into some sort of response...(I don't understand, why does he bother?...he's been pulling this same sorry stunt for years now and each and every time it's literally back-fired right in 'is face, eg, when as fellow candidate he was mouthing-off in your ear during the 2010 Election Forum whilst a public question was being asked about the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, but then outed himself for the complicitly corrupt coward he is by failing to even get out of his seat and address it-Ed)...indeed, I was the only candidate who did address it...(or when he twice physically harassed you at Council's 2013/14 Budget public meetings, and instead himself ended-up looking like an idiot-Ed)...well look, it seems to make him happy...(and tell 'em what happened last meeting-Ed)...I'm gettin' there, I'm gettin' there...
Steve mate...(maaate-Ed)...was at the far-side of the Chamber(s), standing behind the Mayoral throne, chatting to Operations Manager Darryl Sexton, when he (Steve) subtly alerted the other Councillors, Council staff, etc, to my presence using a clearly predetermined, almost subliminal secret signal he's developed specifically for such occasions...("secret signal"? how'd you spot that then? do tell-Ed)...well, he hailed me at volume thusly, "Hello Nick" with accompanying melodramatic flourish/sweep/wave of the arm...(clever-Ed)...he seemed to think so...(and you were out in the next room/foyer bit?-Ed)...yep...(what's that, 30-35 feet away?-Ed)...orrr yeah, 40 feet I'd reckon, probably more...(so, say, 45ft away, in another room, and he semi-yell heralded your arrival? wow-Ed)...but it gets better...(I can't imagine how, yet somehow I knew that it would-Ed)...hurrah!...
Enter Stage Right one Mayor Lee, and so's I go into the Chamber(s) and there in the front row of the Public gallery bit, previously hidden from my view by the doorway itself, there's SAPol (police) Supt Trevor Twilley...(oh strewth-Ed)...and his offsider Sgt Stott (I think), and as I walked in they looked at me then dropped their eyes...(ooo, you big scary hippy-Ed)...I know right! even if they weren't cops, these people know that I'm no threat to anyone, yet they react like this!...(no physical threat, no threat other than what goes down with your politicking and/or down here on this 'ere blog-Ed)...good point Ed, it's simply another case of the looming realities I've come to personify rearing-up behind me...and I was forced to make my way behind them, pausing only to pick-up an Agenda from the seats just where they stood, and then moved past, accidentally bumping one of them in the back of the head as they sat...(these things happen-Ed)...indeed, and I moved a few seats down and sat...Mayor Lee then did his greetings to Council staff present, the media present, and then Supt Twilley and Sgt Stott by name, then 'mumble, mumble, something, "and the public gallery"...(so he didn't/couldn't say your name, again-Ed)...absolutely Ed, not quite as spectacular as "err, err, the gentleman behind", but still hilarious...
It's not that Mayor Lee doesn't know my name, nor is he somehow incapable of saying my name, he's either so psychologically disturbed by my presence that he's rendered verbally dysfunctional, or he's just clumsily following instructions to not identify my presence because then I'd be recorded...(on the Minutes, you'd be recorded on the Minutes as attending-Ed)..exactly, and we can't have that then now can we?...(wow, you are a bastard-Ed)...why thankyou sir...("following instructions"?-Ed)...yeah, I don't believe for a moment that he's come-up with that by himself, and it's been going-on as far back as I can remember...(so's Stevo, mate-Ed)...maaate...(he's all 'hi and smiley' when it's not being recorded, but when it comes to officially confronting you with your own attendance, it's all mumbles, stumbles and careful omissions-Ed)...laugh I nearly...
As it turns out, Supt Twilley was there to receive this award...(why is the SAPol Superintendent getting a shreckin' award for doing their shreckin' job? why is this award-worthy?...and how screamingly hypocritical that any senior SAPol officer get any award for anything, least of all when it comes to respect for women/girls and their protection, etc, and most particularly in this town, Mt Gambier, the home of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up?-Ed)...my my Ed, what a coherent burst of venomous vitriole spat firmly in the face of this farcical pantomime...(I also find amusing the set-out of the article whereby the headline immediately apparent is 'Repeat offender returned to prison'-Ed)...indeed, should be 'offenders', plural...(nice-Ed)...and while we're all chucklin' already, immediately adjacent to this article I've stuck the front page article (TBW February 23rd 2016) re the most ludicrous piece of nonsense I've been availed with in quite some time...
A Pincher Prints A Thousand Words:...under her by-line and therefore as actual stories in The Border Watch newspaper, but as were actually written by her husband as being official press releases for 2010 State Election candidate Don Pegler...(oh yeah, classic-Ed)...indeed, Sandra Morello is infamous for this crassly corrupt manipulation of the Mt Gambier electorate, a corruption she was busted for in the lead-up to the March 2010 State Election...(and when busted, didn't she then try to shift the focus off herself by writing some nonsense about how the ABC weren't giving you (as an Independent candidate) enough coverage/airtime?-Ed)...great call Ed, indeed she did, and tried to make it look like it was me that had complained, thus warranting/justifying a story that was otherwise a self-serving construct of distraction...(and didn't The Border Watch sack her for these outrageous indulgences that made them, TBW, look like crassly incompetent purveyors of completely corrupted commentary?-Ed)...that's right Ed, they didn't...
Just Settin' The Scene:...where-in the recent former TBW Editor and now Mt Gambier City Councillor, Frank 'The Jellyfish That Grew A Spine And Roared Like A Mouse From Its' Ivory Tower' Morello, was writing press releases for Don Peglers' 2010 Election campaign, and The Border Watch was printing them verbatim under the byline of Franks' wife, Sandra Morello...(wow-Ed)...all involved knew exactly what was what, yet these 'press releases' were presented to the reader as actual news items...at the time I lodged official complaints with the entirely pointless Australian Press Council and the equally vacuous SA Electoral Commission, both of whom eventually dismissed my concerns...(well there's nothing like strict accountability-Ed)...nicely sarcasmed Ed...and when TBW/Sandra were busted publicly, they then produced said bizarre story re me and the ABC...and was Sandra sacked for making everyone involved look like idiots? no, of course not, because all involved knew and approved, she was instead briefly 'moved from the political rounds'...(well there's nothing like strict accountability, again-Ed)...indeed Ed, and a sarcasm that could well be a subtitle for this 'ere blog...
And now this ludicrous nonsense (below), where I've cropped-to-fit the main headline of 'Night of newspaper honours'...this is the purest confirmation of the conspiratorial manipulation of the entire Palliative Care issue as it recently played-out here in Mt Gambier, and as covered previous in this 'ere blog...the entire saga of $200,000 worth of Palliative Care Services being axed then restored was/is a nasty, cynical set-up where-in we witness the community/citizenry being treated yet again like an emotive punching-bag to be shoved from pillar-to-post by nasty, cynical little men...and they are predominantly men...the whole stunt was about generating faux-credibility for those politicians involved, the media, etc, using the community's own sense of genuine concern and generosity of spirit...(isn't that 'genuosity'?-Ed)...absolutely Ed, good call, using the community's own 'genuosity' against it, manipulating the 'genuosity' of the individual and the collective to create a false sense of hope, namely, 'oo, look what Mt Gambier can do as a community when we all get together, we can protect ourselves/make ourselves be heard in Adelaide, and The Border Watch is our strong voice, there for us, hooray'...(wow, you are a happy l'íl camper today-Ed)...no apologies for that...(none required-Ed)...
And this article/award basically identifies those included in that collusion, and this desperate attempt to try and regain some credibility...(can I just make the observation that 'protect ourselves/make ourselves heard in Adelaide' says a lot about how Adelaide is quite literally sucking the life out of the rest of SA-Ed)...another good point Ed, you're on fire...(where?! strewth!! put it out!!-Ed)...no no, it's just an expression, you're not actually on fire...(ok, right, had me worried there for a sec-Ed)...and I cannot imagine and I don't believe that anyone else believes that this rabidly arrogant Adelaide-centric Labor government 'changed it's mind because of Sandra Morello'...the whole debasco's a farcical, cynical joke...(and one that renders all other awards completely invalid-Ed)...spot on Ed, the rank corruption, collusion and nepotism evident in Sandra Morello receiving any award, let alone for 'Excellence in Journalism', renders all other related awards as fundamentally compromised/irrelevant, and is an abject insult to genuine journalists...(mate, I'm not a journalist and I'm insulted!-Ed)...well I think that's because this is self-evidently an insult to the collective intelligence...
Here, clearly definable in this article/issue, are the multi-party collusionings of the Palliative Care bastardry, a critical (pardon the pun) issue which is clearly being manipulated as a vehicle for the attempted but failed 'credibility resurrection' of The Border Watch...(amongst others mentioned-Ed)...indeed...I genuinely believe that TBW is critically important in so many respects, so many areas, is so important as a voice for South East SA, but it is a responsibility that TBW exercises when and if it chooses to, as literally dictated to it by the 'Vested Interests' concerned, not as morality and truth dictate/determine/demand...
Well Fork A Duck:...to politely modify this common and indeed popular expression of surprise...(well I'd describe it as more of an 'exasperated expression of displeasure bordering on disgust' rather than simply 'surprise', hence the deleted/modified expletive part-Ed)...yeah, fair point, and in fact that does better quantify the 'comments' I've heard re this 'Fork and Cork' Festival, and indeed, nicely describes how I feel about the whole shenanigans...this event is yet another nice little Ratepayer-funded earner for the Main Corner operators...it ain't just my opinion, it's fact that everything/anything that happens in The Main Corner complex is paid for by Ratepayers...(and that's not specifically including the interest being paid on the hugely over-budget construction costs-Ed)...well indeed Ed, I was referring specifically to all of the basic daily running costs of the facility, eg, utilities, security, etc, but the ongoing impacts of the $5million (and then some) blow-out due to Council's gross mismanagement of the original project, that daily impost on Ratepayers' pockets must be included...
Then add on the support of Ratepayer's money so generously directly donated by Council...some people, myself included, are none-too-impressed at having to fund this thing then having to pay $25 to get into their own public park, only then to be charged $5 ($7) for a drink, pay for food, etc...I don't care what the cost issues are for stall-holders*, etc, because it's irrelevant in context re the mere cost of attending then even partially participating...charging $100 ($130?) for a 'lunch' held in the Main Corner, is Ratepayer's effectively 'paying' for a function that very few could actually afford to attend, even if they wanted to and/or could get in...and yet again I see the same names 'profitting/participating'...(is there any public transport on weekends in Mt Gambier?-Ed)...you know there isn't Ed, Council's got lottsa' dosh to sling at this sortta' stuff, but not one cent for a city bus...(so when you've 'corked' yourself sufficiently, it's a taxi fare home as well, and gettin' there too now that I think of it, no bus, etc-Ed)...it's only money...
*And again, 1) there are many genuine and hard-working people involved in things like 'Fork and Cork' and regular availees will appreciate/understand that yet again these are not the heads I'm kickin'-at, I'm targetting the same ol' suspects at the tip of the pyramid...and 2) that whilst I do fully and openly if not quite happily own just exactly what a thoroughly cynical, contemptuous and fundamentally broken an old man I have become, and regardless of the issue/event, the realities of just exactly who pays, who profits, and why it's happening, etc, are irrefutably of interest to all Ratepayers/Taxpayers, and in that context I'm just the irate oracle...
Tomorrow: Court Stuff
Just listening to another gob-smackingly impotent ABC Radio interview with former Labor (SA) Environment and then Health Minister John Hill, a man largely responsible for the disastrous state of State Health as we currently experience it in South Australia...(yeah, but current Minister Jack Snelling is doing his damnedest to maintain the collapse-Ed)...sure, credit where credit's due, but John's the one who really set the rot in motion, particularly re 1) Country Health, and 2) the 'new' Royal Adelaide Hospital...(strewth! it's barely an interview, he's actually spruiking his book about politics! and just mentioned former Premier Mike Rann! srtrewth, turn it off-Ed)...fantastic, another ABC promo sans any actual journalism...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
(*and a closing apology and further thanks for the support re continuing this 'ere blog...I'm tryin', really I am...cheers*)
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