Hello Poland, Canada, Thailand and Ukraine...welcome one and all to the blog for this Friday 24th October 2014 and a brief pause of a shortish post in the perpetual rant about the rank bastardry of politicians who promise things like a Headspace unit knowing full well that the system currently sortta' in place but only just, that system cannot get even the basic staff that Liberals Tony Pasin, Steve Perryman, et al, have been stating as fact for this proposed new unit which will allegedly appear in 2016...
But First: you'll have to excuse me, because I'm still struggling a little at the moment following the events of the CAS Mayoral Forum last Friday 17th October 2014...(why? that was a week ago-Ed)...I know, I know, but it's not the huge stress of the whole day/night and the lack of sleep for the next coupla' days, loss of weight, etc, it's a whole new paradigm of being hugely buoyed by my 'performance' and the reminder of who I once was and am capable of being, and yet confronted by that same reality given that it was a reminder of some-one whom has/had all but ceased to exist...
(Wow...you can't just be happy for yourself for doing well and be content with that? why even bother with the rest of it? shizzle happens, man, and you are where you are...and you've said it yourself how many times dude? what a life of privilege and luxury you've lived for being born a White man in a stolen land-Ed)...true, I have often said that...(and how good was it to stand up there and speak politely and intelligently and passionately about what you believe and have enthusiastic applause?-Ed)...well absolutely...since when did you get so wise? I thought you were just here for the comic relief stuff?...
And I'd just like to career briefly off on that point about 'life of privilege', etc, because it's not just an old hippy's Socialist placard-waving, it's absolutely true, and best illustrated by the many problems I have had in the Social Security system, itself summed up best in the way it was explained to me, namely, 'we're having trouble placing you anywhere in the system because we're not geared/structured to deal with relatively sane, relatively able-bodied White men, because society in it's entirety is geared to serving their/your wants and needs'...I know I've been through this before, but it certainly bears repeating...
It's an obvious statement about the obvious 'sub-status' of women and non-White people in Australian society that the Social Security system doesn't really have a place for me and my White brothers when we need help...at least until I finally got diagnosed with having suffered the traumas any sane person would for the realities goin' down in my little slice of the world...(and by that definition you're on the Disability Support Pension so technically you've had to be removed from the mainstream Social Security network to get even that very limited support-Ed)...good point...
It's obviously not a complete disaster for White men in the Social Security system, but my personal situation hit a number of blind spots where Centrelink et al were unable to really help me...and it hasn't helped that senior people around town have been denigrating me for years, basically off the back of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up from 2002...I have been scurrilously and openly attacked as a nasty liar with purely selfish and irresponsible motivations, and that confected reputation followed me into Centrelink...
And so we come full circle to the ever-present second most important underlying motivation of my politicising, namely, to present myself publicly and test by confronting these denigrations and defeat them...and if one believes the feedback, that's exactly what I've done with my Candidate Profile stuff in The Border Watch and by being involved in the Forum, etc...(and what's the first?-Ed)...well, resolving the St Martins stuff overall...(ah, of course, sorry-Ed)...
And the many positives of that Forum continue for me personally, because as confronting as it was/is, it's also proof positive that I'm more than capable of functioning at functions, performing at performances, donning the robes and fronting respectfully where and when necessary...it proves I'm more than capable of stepping right back from my own personal politicking and still engaging intelligently...(that you can leave the rage on this 'ere page not take it on stage-Ed)...indeed...
And absolutely delighted to come up for breath briefly with several great bits of news...two bits from the KCA mill at Snuggery/Millicent, where Kimberley Clark are making a further $20million investment in the critically important mill, and also have drastically further reduced their 'pollution' output into the nearby Lake Bonney, itself improving greatly from the somewhat disastrous condition it was in only years ago...it still has a long way to go and will never be 'pristine', but it's fantastic that KCA is making these efforts/improvements along with other initiatives like the $33million earlier this year on a cogeneration plant that effectively reduces emissions by providing the mill's electricity...
Sorry, I'm not in any way an expert on this issue and basically follow it through the media, the Interweb, etc, but the improvements KCA have made are self-evidently massive advances in exactly the right direction...(you bloody hippy-Ed)...and in what can only be described as a very hostile economic climate, eg, competing with heavily subsidised foreign imports...I personally have a small arsenal of KCA products...(there's nothing small about your arsenal, chortle-Ed)...and I don't think there's anything wrong with me spruiking others to consume said product...(ooo, I wouldn't eat it-Ed)...to purchase said product because of the benefits for local economies...
And most excellent news that the Tennyson Woods College Jazz course is to be greatly expanded into a UniSA 3 year course with the direct involvement of James Morrison...as both instigator (along with several others) and operator, Mr Morrison will be using his contacts to draw international jazz professionals as lecturers, etc...this will have widespread benefits for Mt Gambier that will go some way toward addressing the many negative pressures on the city...more on this in future posts...
I'm going to go pretty much against type here and 'happily' type here that this is enough for today and now I'm going to go away to deal with the way that I wasn't quite as angry today as I was expecting to be, what with all the shizzle and the shenanigans and so on and so forth...(well indeed, shenanigans and such-Ed)...
Tomorrow: FLMTMM Part II
Because for all the frivolity in today's various announcements, there's still a wall of shizzle to run in to...and probably at speed...as is my want...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier, SA 5290...cheers and laters
Friday, October 24, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Fracking Lies Make This Mental Mad
Hello and welcome to the blog and unfortunately another diatribe about the rank political bastardry being played out around issues of Mental Health...it's clearly currently very fashionable to talk about MH issues as though one actually gives a damn, but that hasn't stopped the lies and the manipulation and the increased trauma these false behaviours cause...on top of that I'm still recovering from the mind-bogglingly self-indulgent praisefest of Tuesday night's Council meeting...
But First: this week the spineless, complicit Liberal Party showed it's true colours when voting against the Greens Motion calling for an Inquiry into Fracking...the official Liberal line is that Greens leader Mark Parnell's proposed Inquiry was about all mining everywhere across the planet, and therefore totally unworkable...it's difficult for me to ascertain where the truth lies here because all involved on the Committee that rejected this plan 5-1 (Labor with 3 no votes, Liberals with 2 no votes, and the Greens) have proven to be consistently competent indeed consumately complete liars...when they all just lie as a matter of daily business, who do you believe?
But there's no mistaking the vacuous denials of the Liberal Member for McKillop Mitch Williams, on ABC Radio Monday morning 20th October 2014 when he tried to explain away the Liberals voting against this proposed Inquiry...Mr Williams has previously promised to support an Inquiry...before blasting the Greens Motion as farcical, he slanderously denounced the Lock the Gate people as being irresponsible liars, and claimed that no-one had sent him any information proving Fracking was bad...(what do you mean 'hasn't sent him anything?-Ed)...exactly that, 'he doesn't know because no-one sent him stuff'...
(But that's nonsense...what about all the stuff that you can find in minutes on the Interweb about the non-testing of the chemicals used, particularly lack of testing for these 'combination uses', and/or lack of information on even what chemicals are actually being used; groundwater exhaustion and/or contamination; seismological issues, eg, earth-tremors; major companies selling-off already exhausted resources and just pulling-out without doing reclamation; etc, etc?-Ed)...yeah, I know, it's absolute bollocks...
Mr Williams claims to be in a position of absolute ignorance re the potential and in many cases realised negative impacts of Fracking, because some-one else hasn't sent it to him, yet wielding his alleged ignorance on high, he's prepared to attack Lock The Gate for being irresponsibly wrong...(but how can he know they're wrong if he (allegedly) hasn't done the research and/or doesn't know what the facts are himself?-Ed)...well exactly, he can't even slander people properly, whatta' joke...and it gets better...
Having established his own self-alleged ignorance on the issue of Fracking, an ignorance mired in his own alleged laziness and apathy in that he allegedly can't be bothered to spend 10 minutes looking it up on the Interweb, Mr Williams redefined hypocrisy and stupidity and opinionated belligerence by holding forth that there's been '30 years of gas extraction in the South East without any problems'...(but Fracking and Conventional extraction are completely different, you simply cannot compare the two...this is exactly the same bullshit that Reg Nelson of Fracking company Beach Energy has tried to run in his media bits-Ed)...indeed...
Indeed and in fact, it sounds like our man Mitch is actually some-one else's chap, and they're writing his stuff for him...it was classic Labor government/mining company bullshit, dragging unconnected pieces together in crassly incoherent justifications and denying any knowledge of any negatives...absolute lies from someone who has clearly said one thing before the election because it was politically expedient, and now he's back in it's business as usual with corrupted politicians, corrupt development and planning decisions, and handsome profits for those in the game...and Mr Williams is clearly in the Fracking Game...
Days later Mr Williams then took his particular brand of two-faced bastardry to very much the next level down, when, in response to the widespread and quite rightly furious backlash to his original moronicisms re Fracking, he revised his position, again attacking all and sundry opposed to Fracking, but this time by saying that he'd gone on line and immediately found where the USofA Environment Protection Agency says Fracking is AOK Super no.1 Energy Resource...(so days ago he'd allegedly done no research and knew nothing, but in the 3 days since he's managed to access 1 website, and that just happened to be the official USofA government statement supporting Fracking?-Ed)...apparently...
(So he's looked up 1 website and it just happened to support his own personal position that he clearly lied about at the March 2014 state election, and he still can't see any of the plethora of negative examples, eg, multiple cases of groundwater contamination across many states in the USofA, Methane contamination issue in Queensland, etc, etc-Ed)...indeed, indeed, it's one thing to have an opinion about something, be that opinion a factual one or an ideological one, but it's something entirely different to deliberately deceive and knowingly non-know that which one should know and is indeed unbelievable in it's claimed unknowingness...
(Have I explained how much I hate it when you're so jibberishly incoherent in being so precisely concisely accurate and/or vice versa? have I told you that?-Ed)...frequently...I don't know why it happens that way, it's just how this shizzle occurs to me, how it manifests itself here on the page for public distribution...(you mean with all the expletives deleted?-Ed)...exactly...I'd like to think that it's partly inspired/created/ingrained/whatevs by Monty Python whom I've loved since I was but a ManBear StuffPiglet...
The Life Of Brian is a sublime masterclass in simplicity and economy of language encapsulating deep psychological studies and the breadth of human history, masked by layers of pantomime and farce...if you haven't watched it, give it a go, and look beyond the silly voices, costumes, etc, and look at the history being told, the psychology explored, the deeply insightful commentary on what it is to be human, done with biting satire, simple language, and beautiful timing...but I digress...
What Mr Williams has done in trying to justify his clear support for Fracking by claiming to be ignorant of the most fundamental information, is dig himself a deep hole, get in, and then start filling it back in, but not with the scree he just removed, but by digging an even deeper hole, a hole so deep that he had to get out of the original hole and into the new one...(it's wholly unacceptable behaviour-Ed)...well quite...Mr Williams has scant little credibility anymore and this weeks efforts ain't helped at all, not at all sir...
I'll go as far as to say that our state politicians lie so much, so often, with such a breath-taking casualness, that when my opinion/belief/whatevs coincide with what they're saying, I find myself carefully revising my position for fear I've erred...haven't had that problem this week with the rank deceits spewing into the public sphere, and not least of all from our own highly paid professional liar, Mayor Steve Perryman...I had thought that the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up was going to be the highlight of his political career, but lying to and manipulating those with major/severe/whatevs Mental Health issues is right up there...well done Stevo mate...(maaate-Ed)...
I refer to the crass political stunt that is the announcement of 'HeadSpace funding' for a private contractor to supposedly come to Mt Gambier and build and then staff a Mental Health unit for the youths, a Headspace Unit...and there was former City Councillor now Member for Barker Tony Pasin with CEO Mark McShane and fellow Liberal candidate and Mayor Steve Perryman all furiously praising each other right-up for this farcical declaration that will never happen...(may you be wrong-Ed)...indeed, as always, I hope to be very wrong...but I'm not...
Mental Health provision in Mt Gambier is in absolute chaos with the Medicare local referral service to remain closed for another 2 weeks for a total thus far of 6 weeks closed, as this 'moratorium' allows them to 'catch-up with the backlog of referrals'...(and as previously posted, what the hell sort of backlog is going to be waiting when, and if, they do re-open?Ed)...and that is a worrying if...there's barely any Drug/Alcohol Counselling available, fly in/fly out part-time psychiatry, etc, etc...everybody who has had the least little thing to do with MH provision in Mt Gambier, indeed any Health provision across the South East, knows that the biggest hurdle is getting specialists to move here to provide the full-time services we need...
For our Federal Member Tony Pasin and Mayor Steve Peryman and CEO Mark McShane, et al, to engage in this cynical deceit of the community for their own personal political expediency, exactly defines them for the sort of people they are...and Steve Perryman has carried this deceitful, confected non-reality into his campaigning for the current Local Government election, in which he seeks a position as Councillor...in his advertising he proudly lays claim to "'Headspace youth mental centre funding", and/or "Headspace Centre"...
What an absolute piece of political scummery...and when I called it exactly that at the CAS Forum Friday night 17th October 2014, I received a warm round of applause from half the room...(two things, namely, 1) I think you actually called it "political bastardry" not 'scummery', and 2) the other half of the room still hated you-Ed)...oh I'm counting on it...I'm very, very confident that there were several people who left that forum hating me even more because I went right into the heart of their precious little world and very, very politely tore down all of of their ill-gotten ideas of who I am and what I'm like and why I behave the way I do...
And the reality of what I said and how I said it, etc, clearly did shatter those ideas for some because they came up to me afterwards and said exactly that, 'didn't like the blog (therefore me), but having seen you speak, now I get it'...and again congrats and cheers to those who are not afraid to admit they're misapprehensions and misunderstandings, etc, be prepared to acknowledge it, because I consider it a sign of intelligence and decency when people will see genuine intent when presented to them genuinely...and I got genuine in bucket-loads...
I'll finish here for today, but...
Tomorrow: FLMTMM Part II
What our local leaders are doing to deceive and betray our community re Mental Health provision, is a crass mimicry of the Labor state government, and on through to the full-circle bastardry of the federal Headspace announcement...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, My Gambier SA 5290...cheers and laters...
But First: this week the spineless, complicit Liberal Party showed it's true colours when voting against the Greens Motion calling for an Inquiry into Fracking...the official Liberal line is that Greens leader Mark Parnell's proposed Inquiry was about all mining everywhere across the planet, and therefore totally unworkable...it's difficult for me to ascertain where the truth lies here because all involved on the Committee that rejected this plan 5-1 (Labor with 3 no votes, Liberals with 2 no votes, and the Greens) have proven to be consistently competent indeed consumately complete liars...when they all just lie as a matter of daily business, who do you believe?
But there's no mistaking the vacuous denials of the Liberal Member for McKillop Mitch Williams, on ABC Radio Monday morning 20th October 2014 when he tried to explain away the Liberals voting against this proposed Inquiry...Mr Williams has previously promised to support an Inquiry...before blasting the Greens Motion as farcical, he slanderously denounced the Lock the Gate people as being irresponsible liars, and claimed that no-one had sent him any information proving Fracking was bad...(what do you mean 'hasn't sent him anything?-Ed)...exactly that, 'he doesn't know because no-one sent him stuff'...
(But that's nonsense...what about all the stuff that you can find in minutes on the Interweb about the non-testing of the chemicals used, particularly lack of testing for these 'combination uses', and/or lack of information on even what chemicals are actually being used; groundwater exhaustion and/or contamination; seismological issues, eg, earth-tremors; major companies selling-off already exhausted resources and just pulling-out without doing reclamation; etc, etc?-Ed)...yeah, I know, it's absolute bollocks...
Mr Williams claims to be in a position of absolute ignorance re the potential and in many cases realised negative impacts of Fracking, because some-one else hasn't sent it to him, yet wielding his alleged ignorance on high, he's prepared to attack Lock The Gate for being irresponsibly wrong...(but how can he know they're wrong if he (allegedly) hasn't done the research and/or doesn't know what the facts are himself?-Ed)...well exactly, he can't even slander people properly, whatta' joke...and it gets better...
Having established his own self-alleged ignorance on the issue of Fracking, an ignorance mired in his own alleged laziness and apathy in that he allegedly can't be bothered to spend 10 minutes looking it up on the Interweb, Mr Williams redefined hypocrisy and stupidity and opinionated belligerence by holding forth that there's been '30 years of gas extraction in the South East without any problems'...(but Fracking and Conventional extraction are completely different, you simply cannot compare the two...this is exactly the same bullshit that Reg Nelson of Fracking company Beach Energy has tried to run in his media bits-Ed)...indeed...
Indeed and in fact, it sounds like our man Mitch is actually some-one else's chap, and they're writing his stuff for him...it was classic Labor government/mining company bullshit, dragging unconnected pieces together in crassly incoherent justifications and denying any knowledge of any negatives...absolute lies from someone who has clearly said one thing before the election because it was politically expedient, and now he's back in it's business as usual with corrupted politicians, corrupt development and planning decisions, and handsome profits for those in the game...and Mr Williams is clearly in the Fracking Game...
Days later Mr Williams then took his particular brand of two-faced bastardry to very much the next level down, when, in response to the widespread and quite rightly furious backlash to his original moronicisms re Fracking, he revised his position, again attacking all and sundry opposed to Fracking, but this time by saying that he'd gone on line and immediately found where the USofA Environment Protection Agency says Fracking is AOK Super no.1 Energy Resource...(so days ago he'd allegedly done no research and knew nothing, but in the 3 days since he's managed to access 1 website, and that just happened to be the official USofA government statement supporting Fracking?-Ed)...apparently...
(So he's looked up 1 website and it just happened to support his own personal position that he clearly lied about at the March 2014 state election, and he still can't see any of the plethora of negative examples, eg, multiple cases of groundwater contamination across many states in the USofA, Methane contamination issue in Queensland, etc, etc-Ed)...indeed, indeed, it's one thing to have an opinion about something, be that opinion a factual one or an ideological one, but it's something entirely different to deliberately deceive and knowingly non-know that which one should know and is indeed unbelievable in it's claimed unknowingness...
(Have I explained how much I hate it when you're so jibberishly incoherent in being so precisely concisely accurate and/or vice versa? have I told you that?-Ed)...frequently...I don't know why it happens that way, it's just how this shizzle occurs to me, how it manifests itself here on the page for public distribution...(you mean with all the expletives deleted?-Ed)...exactly...I'd like to think that it's partly inspired/created/ingrained/whatevs by Monty Python whom I've loved since I was but a ManBear StuffPiglet...
The Life Of Brian is a sublime masterclass in simplicity and economy of language encapsulating deep psychological studies and the breadth of human history, masked by layers of pantomime and farce...if you haven't watched it, give it a go, and look beyond the silly voices, costumes, etc, and look at the history being told, the psychology explored, the deeply insightful commentary on what it is to be human, done with biting satire, simple language, and beautiful timing...but I digress...
What Mr Williams has done in trying to justify his clear support for Fracking by claiming to be ignorant of the most fundamental information, is dig himself a deep hole, get in, and then start filling it back in, but not with the scree he just removed, but by digging an even deeper hole, a hole so deep that he had to get out of the original hole and into the new one...(it's wholly unacceptable behaviour-Ed)...well quite...Mr Williams has scant little credibility anymore and this weeks efforts ain't helped at all, not at all sir...
I'll go as far as to say that our state politicians lie so much, so often, with such a breath-taking casualness, that when my opinion/belief/whatevs coincide with what they're saying, I find myself carefully revising my position for fear I've erred...haven't had that problem this week with the rank deceits spewing into the public sphere, and not least of all from our own highly paid professional liar, Mayor Steve Perryman...I had thought that the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up was going to be the highlight of his political career, but lying to and manipulating those with major/severe/whatevs Mental Health issues is right up there...well done Stevo mate...(maaate-Ed)...
I refer to the crass political stunt that is the announcement of 'HeadSpace funding' for a private contractor to supposedly come to Mt Gambier and build and then staff a Mental Health unit for the youths, a Headspace Unit...and there was former City Councillor now Member for Barker Tony Pasin with CEO Mark McShane and fellow Liberal candidate and Mayor Steve Perryman all furiously praising each other right-up for this farcical declaration that will never happen...(may you be wrong-Ed)...indeed, as always, I hope to be very wrong...but I'm not...
Mental Health provision in Mt Gambier is in absolute chaos with the Medicare local referral service to remain closed for another 2 weeks for a total thus far of 6 weeks closed, as this 'moratorium' allows them to 'catch-up with the backlog of referrals'...(and as previously posted, what the hell sort of backlog is going to be waiting when, and if, they do re-open?Ed)...and that is a worrying if...there's barely any Drug/Alcohol Counselling available, fly in/fly out part-time psychiatry, etc, etc...everybody who has had the least little thing to do with MH provision in Mt Gambier, indeed any Health provision across the South East, knows that the biggest hurdle is getting specialists to move here to provide the full-time services we need...
For our Federal Member Tony Pasin and Mayor Steve Peryman and CEO Mark McShane, et al, to engage in this cynical deceit of the community for their own personal political expediency, exactly defines them for the sort of people they are...and Steve Perryman has carried this deceitful, confected non-reality into his campaigning for the current Local Government election, in which he seeks a position as Councillor...in his advertising he proudly lays claim to "'Headspace youth mental centre funding", and/or "Headspace Centre"...
What an absolute piece of political scummery...and when I called it exactly that at the CAS Forum Friday night 17th October 2014, I received a warm round of applause from half the room...(two things, namely, 1) I think you actually called it "political bastardry" not 'scummery', and 2) the other half of the room still hated you-Ed)...oh I'm counting on it...I'm very, very confident that there were several people who left that forum hating me even more because I went right into the heart of their precious little world and very, very politely tore down all of of their ill-gotten ideas of who I am and what I'm like and why I behave the way I do...
And the reality of what I said and how I said it, etc, clearly did shatter those ideas for some because they came up to me afterwards and said exactly that, 'didn't like the blog (therefore me), but having seen you speak, now I get it'...and again congrats and cheers to those who are not afraid to admit they're misapprehensions and misunderstandings, etc, be prepared to acknowledge it, because I consider it a sign of intelligence and decency when people will see genuine intent when presented to them genuinely...and I got genuine in bucket-loads...
I'll finish here for today, but...
Tomorrow: FLMTMM Part II
What our local leaders are doing to deceive and betray our community re Mental Health provision, is a crass mimicry of the Labor state government, and on through to the full-circle bastardry of the federal Headspace announcement...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, My Gambier SA 5290...cheers and laters...
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Welcome To My Happy Place
Howdy y'all and welcome to the blog and today I'm going to not so politely unload on the scumbags who comprise South Australian parliament...(just for something different-Ed)...indeed...and I'll do our local member Troy Bell the casual dis-favour of sayin' that I believe that he hates Fracking as much as anyone but has himself been betrayed by the spineless, gutless, moralless, born-to-rule mentality Liberal Party...and Labor are the even scummier bags who almost make the Libs look like human beings...almost...
(Do I sense a post laden with venom and vitriole, venting and vengeance?-Ed)...pretty much...***and apologies that I didn't post this yesterday, but I got back in from Mt Gambier City Council's meeting and was so pissed-off with their self-congratulatory gibberish that what I managed to conjure for this ere blog was, well, angry, un-postable crap...so I didn't...post it that is...and I've strayed from Fracking to the St Martins Child Abuse Cover-up, so's apologies for that too***
I note that Cr Penny Richardson stated last evening that she attended the SAPol Commemoration Day as Deputy Mayor representing Mayor Steve Perryman...along with (I think) other Councillors (?) and CEO Mark McShane...I had thought that the statements made to me that no-one at all from Council had attended seemed unlikely, but the attendees who told me this were adamant, no-one from Council...I can't imagine that Cr Richardson is lying, and can only assume that she/they did not speak, etc, giving the impression that no Councillors were there...I don't believe that this was an attempt to set me up with an errant observation, as I am aware has occurred a coupla' times on other issues...
Last Monday 20th October 2014 on the ABC was a long interview with the Mayoral candidates Bob Sandow and current Councillor Andrew Lee, and the politest thing I have to say about that is 'waffle', lots of waffle...if you missed the Forum on Friday night 17th October 2014, then simply access the ABC Local Radio 'Reloaded' bit on the ABC website (should be there) for a beautiful word picture of just how bewilderingly average these 2 lead candidates were/are...and I'm not just cutting crook against my 'opponents', these were the comments made to me on the night and repeatedly since.
Answer after answer, the pair of them produced nonsensical non-responses that rarely bothered the actual question...Cr Lee in particular kept trotting out cute 'idioms' rather than actually address the issue, backed-up with repeated references to how much door-knocking he's been doing...it was a sorry display mimicking what happened Friday night...(10 minutes of my life I'll never get back-Ed)...was it only 10 minutes? seemed so much longer...(it did, didn't it...hilarious-Ed)...classic...but it gets even classicer, more classically, most classicious, bloody whatevs...(how so?-Ed)...
When the ABC interviews were announced early Monday morning there was no mention of the Candidates Forum run by Community Action for Sustainability (CAS), and then there was no mention by interviewer Stan Thompson...(but Cr Lee mentioned it twice, once quite specifically, and Bob Sandow also mentioned it-Ed)...exactly, and did Stan ask how it went or in any way acknowledge that it had even happened let alone been mentioned right to him?...(well, no, he studiously avoided even identifying that it had happened-Ed)...and do you reckon that might be about 1) not admitting they failed to even attend, and 2) denying the reality that Nick Fletcher was/is involved, let alone that he might give everyone else an absolute metaphoric caning?, and 3) the bloody hippy did exactly that, carried the day with style and grace and intelligence and empathy...(you bastard-Ed)...ci...
Call me a vain, arrogant pig, but...(alright, you're a vain arrogant pigbutt-Ed)...are you quite done?-(yep-Ed)...but I'd like to think that's got something to do with me as much as I believe that the first motivation is 'plausible deniability'...don't go, can't know, can't be held responsible, avoid having to ask difficult questions of your dodgy mates, etc, etc...it continues to baffle me as to why the ABC doesn't attend Council meetings, except when you apply the above motivation, plausible deniability...
(I'd have to say that it's a pretty big call to state that the ABC didn't mention, advertise, promote, even attend, then fail to even acknowledge including when it's mentioned to them, the CAS Mayoral Forum, just because you're involved-Ed)...buuut...(but I've seen just how bizarrely the ABC behave when it comes to you, and how absolutely complicit they are in the St Martins Child Abuse Cover-up-Ed)...sooo...(so I'd have to say that, in lieu of any rational explanation, the idea that this extraordinary behaviour from the ABC is at least partly driven by a hatred for you, that idea becomes highly possible even probable-Ed)...absolutely...
The voting forms are already arriving in the post and I've yet to be even contacted by the ABC.
But at this juncture I'm going to go slewing off into an angry piece re the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, and refer back to the recent gut-churning disgrace of the Stan Thompson interview with his bestie Rory McEwen...10 minutes of Stan sucking-up to Rory about what great work Rory does with the kids in East Timor...and I've been taken there/am writing this because I've just got in (***) from tonight's Council meeting, the last for this particular group...and the last thing they did was spend half an hour congratulating each other, including the announcement that they're launching their ludicrous Children's Charter today Wednesday 22nd October 2014.
And they're getting their little mate Labor MLC Kyam Maher along to launch this particular piece of screaming hypocrisy and absolute 'blue-sky' bullshit that is so very typical of the ludicrous things this Council has found to waste ratepayers money on whilst tipping it into their own and/or Councillor's mates pockets...(wow, angry much?-Ed)...and as part of his self-congratulatory drivel last night Stevo raved on about what a great bloke Rory McEwen was/is and how much he helped Stevo...on and on and on...
Rory McEwen and Steve Perryman are the 2 local politicians most complicit in and most responsible for the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up.
And great news that Country Health SA is extending the month long moratorium on Mental Health referrals for another fortnight but they've nearly cleared their backlog of referrals...(but what about all the referrals they haven't even accepted in the last month? just the other day the Royal Adelaide Hospital Emergency unit had 20+ Mental Health patients in beds there, with one person there for 6 days, the entire MH system is in disarray-Ed)...I know, this is the reality of what a disaster Labor have been for health provision in SA, right across the board...and demonstrates that claims that a HeadSpace unit will be opening in Mt Gambier are quite farcical and exceedingly politically cynical...
And yet another $2m, 24 bed expansion has just been approved for the Mt Gambier Gaol, taking it from 309 beds to 333, adding to the 84 bed expansion currently underway and the 108 beds opened in August 2013 and 8 surge beds were also added as Mt Gambier continues to be used as a dumping ground for SA's paedophiles and other sex offenders...just terrific...and the announcement of the launch of the Children's Charter...sickening...welcome to my happy place...
Tomorrow: Liberal's Fracking Lies
Please find attached below the letter from Premier Jay Weatherill that shows that our current Premier (along with then Premier Mike Rann) is aware of and has blocked official investigation of the St Martin's Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...and so when I see/hear Steve Perryman praising-up Rory McEwen I'm engulfed by the reality that our charming Mayor and our charming former local Member are entirely complicit in this cover-up...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog and angry is just a word...cheers and laters mofos...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier, SA 5290.
(Do I sense a post laden with venom and vitriole, venting and vengeance?-Ed)...pretty much...***and apologies that I didn't post this yesterday, but I got back in from Mt Gambier City Council's meeting and was so pissed-off with their self-congratulatory gibberish that what I managed to conjure for this ere blog was, well, angry, un-postable crap...so I didn't...post it that is...and I've strayed from Fracking to the St Martins Child Abuse Cover-up, so's apologies for that too***
I note that Cr Penny Richardson stated last evening that she attended the SAPol Commemoration Day as Deputy Mayor representing Mayor Steve Perryman...along with (I think) other Councillors (?) and CEO Mark McShane...I had thought that the statements made to me that no-one at all from Council had attended seemed unlikely, but the attendees who told me this were adamant, no-one from Council...I can't imagine that Cr Richardson is lying, and can only assume that she/they did not speak, etc, giving the impression that no Councillors were there...I don't believe that this was an attempt to set me up with an errant observation, as I am aware has occurred a coupla' times on other issues...
Last Monday 20th October 2014 on the ABC was a long interview with the Mayoral candidates Bob Sandow and current Councillor Andrew Lee, and the politest thing I have to say about that is 'waffle', lots of waffle...if you missed the Forum on Friday night 17th October 2014, then simply access the ABC Local Radio 'Reloaded' bit on the ABC website (should be there) for a beautiful word picture of just how bewilderingly average these 2 lead candidates were/are...and I'm not just cutting crook against my 'opponents', these were the comments made to me on the night and repeatedly since.
Answer after answer, the pair of them produced nonsensical non-responses that rarely bothered the actual question...Cr Lee in particular kept trotting out cute 'idioms' rather than actually address the issue, backed-up with repeated references to how much door-knocking he's been doing...it was a sorry display mimicking what happened Friday night...(10 minutes of my life I'll never get back-Ed)...was it only 10 minutes? seemed so much longer...(it did, didn't it...hilarious-Ed)...classic...but it gets even classicer, more classically, most classicious, bloody whatevs...(how so?-Ed)...
When the ABC interviews were announced early Monday morning there was no mention of the Candidates Forum run by Community Action for Sustainability (CAS), and then there was no mention by interviewer Stan Thompson...(but Cr Lee mentioned it twice, once quite specifically, and Bob Sandow also mentioned it-Ed)...exactly, and did Stan ask how it went or in any way acknowledge that it had even happened let alone been mentioned right to him?...(well, no, he studiously avoided even identifying that it had happened-Ed)...and do you reckon that might be about 1) not admitting they failed to even attend, and 2) denying the reality that Nick Fletcher was/is involved, let alone that he might give everyone else an absolute metaphoric caning?, and 3) the bloody hippy did exactly that, carried the day with style and grace and intelligence and empathy...(you bastard-Ed)...ci...
Call me a vain, arrogant pig, but...(alright, you're a vain arrogant pigbutt-Ed)...are you quite done?-(yep-Ed)...but I'd like to think that's got something to do with me as much as I believe that the first motivation is 'plausible deniability'...don't go, can't know, can't be held responsible, avoid having to ask difficult questions of your dodgy mates, etc, etc...it continues to baffle me as to why the ABC doesn't attend Council meetings, except when you apply the above motivation, plausible deniability...
(I'd have to say that it's a pretty big call to state that the ABC didn't mention, advertise, promote, even attend, then fail to even acknowledge including when it's mentioned to them, the CAS Mayoral Forum, just because you're involved-Ed)...buuut...(but I've seen just how bizarrely the ABC behave when it comes to you, and how absolutely complicit they are in the St Martins Child Abuse Cover-up-Ed)...sooo...(so I'd have to say that, in lieu of any rational explanation, the idea that this extraordinary behaviour from the ABC is at least partly driven by a hatred for you, that idea becomes highly possible even probable-Ed)...absolutely...
The voting forms are already arriving in the post and I've yet to be even contacted by the ABC.
But at this juncture I'm going to go slewing off into an angry piece re the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, and refer back to the recent gut-churning disgrace of the Stan Thompson interview with his bestie Rory McEwen...10 minutes of Stan sucking-up to Rory about what great work Rory does with the kids in East Timor...and I've been taken there/am writing this because I've just got in (***) from tonight's Council meeting, the last for this particular group...and the last thing they did was spend half an hour congratulating each other, including the announcement that they're launching their ludicrous Children's Charter today Wednesday 22nd October 2014.
And they're getting their little mate Labor MLC Kyam Maher along to launch this particular piece of screaming hypocrisy and absolute 'blue-sky' bullshit that is so very typical of the ludicrous things this Council has found to waste ratepayers money on whilst tipping it into their own and/or Councillor's mates pockets...(wow, angry much?-Ed)...and as part of his self-congratulatory drivel last night Stevo raved on about what a great bloke Rory McEwen was/is and how much he helped Stevo...on and on and on...
Rory McEwen and Steve Perryman are the 2 local politicians most complicit in and most responsible for the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up.
And great news that Country Health SA is extending the month long moratorium on Mental Health referrals for another fortnight but they've nearly cleared their backlog of referrals...(but what about all the referrals they haven't even accepted in the last month? just the other day the Royal Adelaide Hospital Emergency unit had 20+ Mental Health patients in beds there, with one person there for 6 days, the entire MH system is in disarray-Ed)...I know, this is the reality of what a disaster Labor have been for health provision in SA, right across the board...and demonstrates that claims that a HeadSpace unit will be opening in Mt Gambier are quite farcical and exceedingly politically cynical...
And yet another $2m, 24 bed expansion has just been approved for the Mt Gambier Gaol, taking it from 309 beds to 333, adding to the 84 bed expansion currently underway and the 108 beds opened in August 2013 and 8 surge beds were also added as Mt Gambier continues to be used as a dumping ground for SA's paedophiles and other sex offenders...just terrific...and the announcement of the launch of the Children's Charter...sickening...welcome to my happy place...
Tomorrow: Liberal's Fracking Lies
Please find attached below the letter from Premier Jay Weatherill that shows that our current Premier (along with then Premier Mike Rann) is aware of and has blocked official investigation of the St Martin's Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...and so when I see/hear Steve Perryman praising-up Rory McEwen I'm engulfed by the reality that our charming Mayor and our charming former local Member are entirely complicit in this cover-up...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog and angry is just a word...cheers and laters mofos...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier, SA 5290.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Forum And Coke Sake
Hello Vietnam, India, Canada, and the United States of America, and welcome one and all to the blog for another exciting week in politics, and to that end another post mostly about the CAS Mayoral Candidates Forum last Friday evening, October 17th 2014...and again thanks to Community Action for Sustainability for organising the event, it was by all accounts quite an eye-opener for most in attendance...
But First: a fire has destroyed the Old Rail Shed, the Roundhouse, on the site just West of the main Rail Lands...made me jump a bit when I heard it because I unfortunately predicted (continue to predict) that this is the potential future for the Old Rail Station given that it sits right in the way of the Rail Lands Retail Agenda, an agenda proven previously on this 'ere blog and to my mind very much still 'in play'...
I note yet again that Council has wasted $4million on the Rail Lands (half of it borrowed) by needlessly removing the rails and then moving the easement, etc, pushing dirt pointlessly in circles for weeks, rolling out $100,000s of turf sods on ground that becomes a sodden sump in Winter, building a $700,000 Death-Trap Drowning Pit, adding a large section of new platform for gourd knows what reason, those palm trees...(ahhh, not the bloody palm trees-Ed)...and another acre of dodgy cement pavers, more farcical shreckin' about with sections of the old platform, expensive balustrades for no good reason but not a proper fence around the Death Pit of Stupidity...
(You know, I may have this wrong, but it looks like they've cut a large section through the old platform so that it effectively separates the main platform bit from the Signal House section where they're going to put new toilets instead of in the toilet area already part of the Old Station building, meaning that if you're on the platform and need the toilet, instead of going just over there, you'll have to go down the ramps and/or steps, and then across open ground to get to the toilets-Ed)...indeed, across an area that floods when it rains, as per previous posts and added again below, just for laughs...(nuthin' funny 'bout that, it's a bloody disgrace-Ed)...indeed...
And on the ABC Local Radio (earlier today) a mention of the Local Government elections...the postal voting packs start to be mailed out today and apparently if you don't have yours by next Monday you should contact the SA Electoral Commission...and also just announced as coming up on the ABC Morning Program another 2 interviews with 2 Mayoral candidates...(ahhh, so you did get a guernsey then...I know you were complaining last week that the ABC was running interviews with candidates but hadn't even contacted you yet...why are you looking at me like that?...they still haven't contacted you yet have they?-Ed)...nope...(so this'll be interviews with candidates 5 and 6, and you haven't heard anything yet-Ed)...nope...
And again as put to me by the people at the CAS Forum who came up to congratulate me afterwards, there was one clear winner and an obvious second and daylight for third, and yet no-one from the media came up to me...(ooo, here we go-Ed)...damn straight we do...no-one from the media asked for an interview, did I have any further comments, etc, didn't come near me...(but I thought you said that it was "a triumph darling" as far as you were concerned-Ed)...it was...many things going on here...
Firstly, I didn't see any 'media' that I recognised other than Anelia Blackie from The Border Watch, certainly no-one from the ABC, and I don't even know if Anelia was there as a TBW employee or whatevs because the coupla' times I got near her she turned away like she couldn't see me there only feet away...(classic-Ed)...indeed...it leads me to assume that she attended in some private capacity and was taking photos, talking to other candidates, etc, for her own personal pleasure/purpose/whatevs...(sure as heck wasn't there as a journalist-Ed)...
First time I was 2 feet away from her in the foyer area and she quickly blew past me and I don't know if she even heard me say hello...(say hello? you provocative bastard-Ed)...well quite...maybe she didn't hear me, whatevs, but she sure as hack saw me...(don't you mean 'sure as heck'?-Ed)...no, I said exactly what I mean...(ooo, now I get it, nice-Ed)...and then a second time after the forum as I went toward the rear of the room along the main aisle and she was coming the other way and looked right at me, panicked, baulked, turned right, and appeared to be talking to the back of the person standing there like she was interviewing them or something...absolutely pissingly hilarious...I went past and politely said hello to the back of her head from 3 feet away...again...and again I don't whether she heard me or not, whatevs, give a damn, it was bloody hilarious...
Anelia hasn't been shy in telling me all about it on occasions, eg, from the audience floor up at me on the stage as a candidate at the March 2010 State Election Forum, berating me re the local bus service and being absolutely wrong whilst doing it...and several other 'conversations' we've had...but now it's just avoid me like the plague...and put that in the context that I absolutely nailed the forum and made more than one of my 'opponents' look like blathering buffoons, and she sees me walking right toward her and turns away to deliberately avoid me...
(Wow, you really are special-Ed)...orrr, in my own special way, yeah, it would appear to be the case, a bit, so I'll put my hand up for a bitta' that...I certainly get special treatment, that's for sure...(absolute classic-Ed)...regardless of how I went during that forum, I was one of the candidates, at a public meeting, putting myself into the public realm for scrutiny and Anelia (TBW?) think she/they have the right to ignore me...(pathetic-Ed)...but not just that, and with all due respect and humility, I'm very proud to say that I was the stand-out speaker on the night, and still Anelia thinks it's her place to snub me and turn her back, etc, as part of her (TBW?) agenda to censor me out of the reality of what is happening...(absolutely pitiful-Ed)...indeed...
And I wasn't the only one who noticed this, amid comments that TBW does itself no favours behaving this way...and as for the ABC, sweet baby cheeses, I'm not sure they were even there...(but didn't they broadcast the entire Candidates Forum from Keith last week?-Ed)...yep, most of it I think...(but no-one even showed up for the Mt Gambier forum?-Ed)...well not that I recognised/spotted, certainly no-one approached me for a comment or to say well-done or whatevs...
Apologies, but I could swear I heard it just announced (this morning) on the ABC that SA Labor has 'backed-down' and now supports and/or has presented their own Cancer Compensation Legislation that includes Country Fire Service volunteers as being eligible/covered re certain Cancers related to fire-fighting...and now they've said it twice I'm sure...will see what happens with this and believe it when it happens...call me a cynic but that's just because I've seen a lot of announcements and very little actioning...(didn't alleged Independent Geoff Brock vote down the same Liberal initiative only weeks ago?-Ed)...indeed...(one could be forgiven for thinking that he did that just so's Labor could say 'hey, check how fabulous we are, look we've done this'-Ed)...I forgive you...
And relatively fantastic to hear this afternoon a spokesperson from the CFS volunteers (name? sorry) state exactly that...'this is a stunt to try and sweeten us up because we're protesting the massive Emergency Services Levy increases and opposing the amalgamation of the CFS, the State Emergency Service, both volunteer organisations, and the full-time Metro Fire Service'...(well spoken that man-Ed)...absolutely, he nailed it...this is yet another rank political stunt courtesy of Messrs Weatherill, Brock, et al, and I doubt it'll see the light of day...
And yet another 24 beds for the Mt Gambier Gaol, following on from the recent 200? bed expansion, and the talk is turning to 'let them out because we can't physically house them'...(whats the point of sentencing them in the first instance?-Ed)...dunno'...apparently we've got 2625 prisoners and only 2448 beds, up about 10.7% total inmates in recent years and as a result infirmaries, police station holding cells, etc, are getting used to house prisoners...(yay-Ed)...
Absolutely rabid though about what happened on Friday in SA parliament when the Liberals voted down the Green's proposal for a Fracking Inquiry, as repeatedly promised by the Liberals at the March 2014 State Election...today's interview with Liberal Mitch Williams was an atrocious betrayal of the people of SA and particularly those in his own electorate...more tomorrow...and more Aldi/Showgrounds stuff, etc, etc...
Tomorrow: Mo' Stuff Fo' Ma' Homies
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier, SA 5290.
But First: a fire has destroyed the Old Rail Shed, the Roundhouse, on the site just West of the main Rail Lands...made me jump a bit when I heard it because I unfortunately predicted (continue to predict) that this is the potential future for the Old Rail Station given that it sits right in the way of the Rail Lands Retail Agenda, an agenda proven previously on this 'ere blog and to my mind very much still 'in play'...
I note yet again that Council has wasted $4million on the Rail Lands (half of it borrowed) by needlessly removing the rails and then moving the easement, etc, pushing dirt pointlessly in circles for weeks, rolling out $100,000s of turf sods on ground that becomes a sodden sump in Winter, building a $700,000 Death-Trap Drowning Pit, adding a large section of new platform for gourd knows what reason, those palm trees...(ahhh, not the bloody palm trees-Ed)...and another acre of dodgy cement pavers, more farcical shreckin' about with sections of the old platform, expensive balustrades for no good reason but not a proper fence around the Death Pit of Stupidity...
(You know, I may have this wrong, but it looks like they've cut a large section through the old platform so that it effectively separates the main platform bit from the Signal House section where they're going to put new toilets instead of in the toilet area already part of the Old Station building, meaning that if you're on the platform and need the toilet, instead of going just over there, you'll have to go down the ramps and/or steps, and then across open ground to get to the toilets-Ed)...indeed, across an area that floods when it rains, as per previous posts and added again below, just for laughs...(nuthin' funny 'bout that, it's a bloody disgrace-Ed)...indeed...
And on the ABC Local Radio (earlier today) a mention of the Local Government elections...the postal voting packs start to be mailed out today and apparently if you don't have yours by next Monday you should contact the SA Electoral Commission...and also just announced as coming up on the ABC Morning Program another 2 interviews with 2 Mayoral candidates...(ahhh, so you did get a guernsey then...I know you were complaining last week that the ABC was running interviews with candidates but hadn't even contacted you yet...why are you looking at me like that?...they still haven't contacted you yet have they?-Ed)...nope...(so this'll be interviews with candidates 5 and 6, and you haven't heard anything yet-Ed)...nope...
And again as put to me by the people at the CAS Forum who came up to congratulate me afterwards, there was one clear winner and an obvious second and daylight for third, and yet no-one from the media came up to me...(ooo, here we go-Ed)...damn straight we do...no-one from the media asked for an interview, did I have any further comments, etc, didn't come near me...(but I thought you said that it was "a triumph darling" as far as you were concerned-Ed)...it was...many things going on here...
Firstly, I didn't see any 'media' that I recognised other than Anelia Blackie from The Border Watch, certainly no-one from the ABC, and I don't even know if Anelia was there as a TBW employee or whatevs because the coupla' times I got near her she turned away like she couldn't see me there only feet away...(classic-Ed)...indeed...it leads me to assume that she attended in some private capacity and was taking photos, talking to other candidates, etc, for her own personal pleasure/purpose/whatevs...(sure as heck wasn't there as a journalist-Ed)...
First time I was 2 feet away from her in the foyer area and she quickly blew past me and I don't know if she even heard me say hello...(say hello? you provocative bastard-Ed)...well quite...maybe she didn't hear me, whatevs, but she sure as hack saw me...(don't you mean 'sure as heck'?-Ed)...no, I said exactly what I mean...(ooo, now I get it, nice-Ed)...and then a second time after the forum as I went toward the rear of the room along the main aisle and she was coming the other way and looked right at me, panicked, baulked, turned right, and appeared to be talking to the back of the person standing there like she was interviewing them or something...absolutely pissingly hilarious...I went past and politely said hello to the back of her head from 3 feet away...again...and again I don't whether she heard me or not, whatevs, give a damn, it was bloody hilarious...
Anelia hasn't been shy in telling me all about it on occasions, eg, from the audience floor up at me on the stage as a candidate at the March 2010 State Election Forum, berating me re the local bus service and being absolutely wrong whilst doing it...and several other 'conversations' we've had...but now it's just avoid me like the plague...and put that in the context that I absolutely nailed the forum and made more than one of my 'opponents' look like blathering buffoons, and she sees me walking right toward her and turns away to deliberately avoid me...
(Wow, you really are special-Ed)...orrr, in my own special way, yeah, it would appear to be the case, a bit, so I'll put my hand up for a bitta' that...I certainly get special treatment, that's for sure...(absolute classic-Ed)...regardless of how I went during that forum, I was one of the candidates, at a public meeting, putting myself into the public realm for scrutiny and Anelia (TBW?) think she/they have the right to ignore me...(pathetic-Ed)...but not just that, and with all due respect and humility, I'm very proud to say that I was the stand-out speaker on the night, and still Anelia thinks it's her place to snub me and turn her back, etc, as part of her (TBW?) agenda to censor me out of the reality of what is happening...(absolutely pitiful-Ed)...indeed...
And I wasn't the only one who noticed this, amid comments that TBW does itself no favours behaving this way...and as for the ABC, sweet baby cheeses, I'm not sure they were even there...(but didn't they broadcast the entire Candidates Forum from Keith last week?-Ed)...yep, most of it I think...(but no-one even showed up for the Mt Gambier forum?-Ed)...well not that I recognised/spotted, certainly no-one approached me for a comment or to say well-done or whatevs...
Apologies, but I could swear I heard it just announced (this morning) on the ABC that SA Labor has 'backed-down' and now supports and/or has presented their own Cancer Compensation Legislation that includes Country Fire Service volunteers as being eligible/covered re certain Cancers related to fire-fighting...and now they've said it twice I'm sure...will see what happens with this and believe it when it happens...call me a cynic but that's just because I've seen a lot of announcements and very little actioning...(didn't alleged Independent Geoff Brock vote down the same Liberal initiative only weeks ago?-Ed)...indeed...(one could be forgiven for thinking that he did that just so's Labor could say 'hey, check how fabulous we are, look we've done this'-Ed)...I forgive you...
And relatively fantastic to hear this afternoon a spokesperson from the CFS volunteers (name? sorry) state exactly that...'this is a stunt to try and sweeten us up because we're protesting the massive Emergency Services Levy increases and opposing the amalgamation of the CFS, the State Emergency Service, both volunteer organisations, and the full-time Metro Fire Service'...(well spoken that man-Ed)...absolutely, he nailed it...this is yet another rank political stunt courtesy of Messrs Weatherill, Brock, et al, and I doubt it'll see the light of day...
And yet another 24 beds for the Mt Gambier Gaol, following on from the recent 200? bed expansion, and the talk is turning to 'let them out because we can't physically house them'...(whats the point of sentencing them in the first instance?-Ed)...dunno'...apparently we've got 2625 prisoners and only 2448 beds, up about 10.7% total inmates in recent years and as a result infirmaries, police station holding cells, etc, are getting used to house prisoners...(yay-Ed)...
Absolutely rabid though about what happened on Friday in SA parliament when the Liberals voted down the Green's proposal for a Fracking Inquiry, as repeatedly promised by the Liberals at the March 2014 State Election...today's interview with Liberal Mitch Williams was an atrocious betrayal of the people of SA and particularly those in his own electorate...more tomorrow...and more Aldi/Showgrounds stuff, etc, etc...
Tomorrow: Mo' Stuff Fo' Ma' Homies
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier, SA 5290.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
CAS Forum RunDown
Howdy y'all and welcome to the blog and please excuse me if I focus again mainly on the Local Government Elections, but seeing as I'm like in it and all...and also please excuse me if I spend some time praising myself up for my effort at the CAS Forum, but I'm just mildly thrilled about the fact that a tiny remnant of who I can be still is, and that that remnant joined me on stage Friday night...(get any sleep yet?-Ed)...a few hours last night, but man, I am knackered...(fair enough after that huge, extended adrenaline rush and lack of sleep, etc-Ed)...indeed...
It was a decision I was still making going into the forum, and the promises I'd already made about 'behaving' myself were certainly a factor, but it was still a last minute choice to engage in a strictly appropriate manner...and a decision well made and well rewarded, although it hasn't stopped me givin' myself a hard time since for being too soft, but I'll get over that...(indeed, but rewarded how?-Ed)...with the response afterwards, eg, the comments about how seeing me conduct myself in public, under such enormous pressure had, for a coupla' people, turned them around about how I conduct myself on this 'ere blog...
Essentially I had a range of answers lined up in my head, starting from polite and innocuous, through the various shades of rage, to 'it's kicking-off', whereby should someone want to take me on directly...(not a chance-Ed)...sorry?...(not a chance, no-one on that stage was stupid enough to take you on directly-Ed)...well that's very nice of you to say Ed, about all of us...are you suggesting that perhaps my reputation proceeds me a bit?...(yeah, sortta' the way the sea suddenly drawing back proceeds a tsunami-Ed)...charming...but that was the real beauty of Friday...(sorry, you've lost me there a bit-Ed)...
Well I do have a well-nourished, well-circulated reputation designed to undermine me and/or this 'ere blog...a reputation for being just another angry blogger madly, irresponsibly, inappropriately flailing away at all and sundry and capable of little else...but then, in a public meeting, with all eyes upon It, up stands the politest, most well-spoken, passionate and clearly reasonably intelligent ManBear StuffPig, who embraced his failings and clearly explained why they were strengths and 'off the cuff' nailed every answer to warm applause...and people were shocked, and credit to them that they came up to me and said it...
And a reputation apparently well spread...(as is this 'ere blog?-Ed)...indeed...and definitely well earned and now only embellished in ways that simply cannot be taken away from me...some people there had no idea who I was or anything about the blog, etc, a few people I knew, or introduced themselves as blog readers, etc, through to those who hated me going in and hate me even more now because I've sucked the living justification out of their hate, so all they'll have left is even greater hate...(classic-Ed)...and then there were those who 'came across to the dark-side' (insert sinister laughter here)...
I have cut crook about the forum's facilitator Dr Sarah Mott previous in this blog, and that all changed Friday as far as I'm concerned, and I told her that, and I'd reckon she gets it...and the catalyst that allowed this, that 'opened that door', was a slight slip of the tongue during the '30 second surprise questions' in between the main ones, and I was 4th maybe, about halfway through, and she accidentally said "30 minutes" and I stood quickly, reaching for the microphone, saying "beauty, 30 minutes" to which she she laughingly drew back and there was good-hearted laughter across the room...
It sounds a bit convoluted I know, but it was a briefly perfect momentary faux pas that my natural wit turned to my advantage and the warmth of the laughter indicated that the audience were already feeling positively disposed toward me...(good call, I can see that-Ed)...and I can't imagine what Dr Mott has heard about me previous like, but I reckon that all changed Friday night when she too was exposed to the Nick Fletcher that isn't quite the complete arsehole he's been portrayed as...
Politest Massacre Ever: is the only thing I can think to say to fully encapsulate the way that I quietly flayed all and sundry at the Mayoral Forum Friday night, with Paul Jenner sortta' trailing behind a bit, and daylight third...and as genuinely pleased as I am with how well it went, I'm only stating that which was said to me immediately following the forum...a bunch of people I don't/didn't know congratulated me on my passion and empathy and presentation, etc, saying that I'd clearly 'won the day' as it were, and that Mr Jenner wasn't too bad, and then that was it...
Didn't take many notes as such because I was concentrating on what it was being said, what I wanted to say, etc, but 2 things really stood out, and one was a case of most fortuitous timing in that my answer was the last (second last?) on the issue of sustainable transport, and several candidates including current Councillor Allen Smith and Bob Sandow said that Mt Gambier's bus service is just great...(say what? they ever caught a bloody bus?-Ed)...well indeed...it provided me the perfect launching pad into 'I caught the bus for 7 years, it don't run weekends, public holidays, etc, that means 7 days outta' 10 across Christmas/New years there's no bus at all', etc...(as you say, a polite massacre-Ed)...absolutely...
And I was only part way into that answer and there was some applause, and then I explained that I've been trying to organise a bus service for weekends and one to Pt MacDonnell and Brown's Beach for the Christmas holidays, and by the end of my 1 minute I received loud applause...(what about the 'fortuitous timing' bit?-Ed)...ah yes...if I'd gone first or second and spelled out the problems in an un-challengable fashion...(as you do-Ed)...as I do, then the others could have fallen in behind that with promises of improved services, etc...(but because you were last they'd already nailed their colours if not their own scrotums to the mast, allowing you to come along behind and reap a rich harvest-Ed)...exactly...perfect timing...
Secondly, I dropped my Rail Corridor BikeWay Plan on them and there was again applause whilst I was talking and loud applause when I finished...it was commented on repeatedly in the chats I had afterwards as being a fantastic idea that should have happened a decade ago...actually, thirdly, I also received repeated applause for my comments re my mental health experiences, including one of a coupla' pieces of open criticism I did conjure (the second being about the lunacy of Fracking, particularly as it's being forced on the South East, etc)...(well I'd call that factualising not criticising-Ed)...fair enough...
But my other open criticism was for the rank political bastardry of the recent Headspace announcement (by Liberal Member and former Mt Gambier City Councillor, Tony Pasin, and others, eg CEO Mark McShane), and how these promises of a new building and a fully staffed service by 2016 or soon after, are known by the Promisers to be unsupportable lies, already proven such by the unrelenting reality of the ongoing problems with staffing, funding, attracting specialists, etc, etc, etc...I believe I called it "a disgrace", and yet again received rousing applause...
Excuse me, but I am absolutely knackered, and it's nearly 2230hrs already, so I'll finish here and do a bit more Forum stuff, including about the media throng that, well, thronged me after my glorious victory upon the dais upon the day...(media? who? I didn't see anyone anywhere near you-Ed)...my point exactly...(ahhh, clever-Ed)...
Tomorrow: Lotsa' Stuff
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier, SA 5290...cheers and laters...
It was a decision I was still making going into the forum, and the promises I'd already made about 'behaving' myself were certainly a factor, but it was still a last minute choice to engage in a strictly appropriate manner...and a decision well made and well rewarded, although it hasn't stopped me givin' myself a hard time since for being too soft, but I'll get over that...(indeed, but rewarded how?-Ed)...with the response afterwards, eg, the comments about how seeing me conduct myself in public, under such enormous pressure had, for a coupla' people, turned them around about how I conduct myself on this 'ere blog...
Essentially I had a range of answers lined up in my head, starting from polite and innocuous, through the various shades of rage, to 'it's kicking-off', whereby should someone want to take me on directly...(not a chance-Ed)...sorry?...(not a chance, no-one on that stage was stupid enough to take you on directly-Ed)...well that's very nice of you to say Ed, about all of us...are you suggesting that perhaps my reputation proceeds me a bit?...(yeah, sortta' the way the sea suddenly drawing back proceeds a tsunami-Ed)...charming...but that was the real beauty of Friday...(sorry, you've lost me there a bit-Ed)...
Well I do have a well-nourished, well-circulated reputation designed to undermine me and/or this 'ere blog...a reputation for being just another angry blogger madly, irresponsibly, inappropriately flailing away at all and sundry and capable of little else...but then, in a public meeting, with all eyes upon It, up stands the politest, most well-spoken, passionate and clearly reasonably intelligent ManBear StuffPig, who embraced his failings and clearly explained why they were strengths and 'off the cuff' nailed every answer to warm applause...and people were shocked, and credit to them that they came up to me and said it...
And a reputation apparently well spread...(as is this 'ere blog?-Ed)...indeed...and definitely well earned and now only embellished in ways that simply cannot be taken away from me...some people there had no idea who I was or anything about the blog, etc, a few people I knew, or introduced themselves as blog readers, etc, through to those who hated me going in and hate me even more now because I've sucked the living justification out of their hate, so all they'll have left is even greater hate...(classic-Ed)...and then there were those who 'came across to the dark-side' (insert sinister laughter here)...
I have cut crook about the forum's facilitator Dr Sarah Mott previous in this blog, and that all changed Friday as far as I'm concerned, and I told her that, and I'd reckon she gets it...and the catalyst that allowed this, that 'opened that door', was a slight slip of the tongue during the '30 second surprise questions' in between the main ones, and I was 4th maybe, about halfway through, and she accidentally said "30 minutes" and I stood quickly, reaching for the microphone, saying "beauty, 30 minutes" to which she she laughingly drew back and there was good-hearted laughter across the room...
It sounds a bit convoluted I know, but it was a briefly perfect momentary faux pas that my natural wit turned to my advantage and the warmth of the laughter indicated that the audience were already feeling positively disposed toward me...(good call, I can see that-Ed)...and I can't imagine what Dr Mott has heard about me previous like, but I reckon that all changed Friday night when she too was exposed to the Nick Fletcher that isn't quite the complete arsehole he's been portrayed as...
Politest Massacre Ever: is the only thing I can think to say to fully encapsulate the way that I quietly flayed all and sundry at the Mayoral Forum Friday night, with Paul Jenner sortta' trailing behind a bit, and daylight third...and as genuinely pleased as I am with how well it went, I'm only stating that which was said to me immediately following the forum...a bunch of people I don't/didn't know congratulated me on my passion and empathy and presentation, etc, saying that I'd clearly 'won the day' as it were, and that Mr Jenner wasn't too bad, and then that was it...
Didn't take many notes as such because I was concentrating on what it was being said, what I wanted to say, etc, but 2 things really stood out, and one was a case of most fortuitous timing in that my answer was the last (second last?) on the issue of sustainable transport, and several candidates including current Councillor Allen Smith and Bob Sandow said that Mt Gambier's bus service is just great...(say what? they ever caught a bloody bus?-Ed)...well indeed...it provided me the perfect launching pad into 'I caught the bus for 7 years, it don't run weekends, public holidays, etc, that means 7 days outta' 10 across Christmas/New years there's no bus at all', etc...(as you say, a polite massacre-Ed)...absolutely...
And I was only part way into that answer and there was some applause, and then I explained that I've been trying to organise a bus service for weekends and one to Pt MacDonnell and Brown's Beach for the Christmas holidays, and by the end of my 1 minute I received loud applause...(what about the 'fortuitous timing' bit?-Ed)...ah yes...if I'd gone first or second and spelled out the problems in an un-challengable fashion...(as you do-Ed)...as I do, then the others could have fallen in behind that with promises of improved services, etc...(but because you were last they'd already nailed their colours if not their own scrotums to the mast, allowing you to come along behind and reap a rich harvest-Ed)...exactly...perfect timing...
Secondly, I dropped my Rail Corridor BikeWay Plan on them and there was again applause whilst I was talking and loud applause when I finished...it was commented on repeatedly in the chats I had afterwards as being a fantastic idea that should have happened a decade ago...actually, thirdly, I also received repeated applause for my comments re my mental health experiences, including one of a coupla' pieces of open criticism I did conjure (the second being about the lunacy of Fracking, particularly as it's being forced on the South East, etc)...(well I'd call that factualising not criticising-Ed)...fair enough...
But my other open criticism was for the rank political bastardry of the recent Headspace announcement (by Liberal Member and former Mt Gambier City Councillor, Tony Pasin, and others, eg CEO Mark McShane), and how these promises of a new building and a fully staffed service by 2016 or soon after, are known by the Promisers to be unsupportable lies, already proven such by the unrelenting reality of the ongoing problems with staffing, funding, attracting specialists, etc, etc, etc...I believe I called it "a disgrace", and yet again received rousing applause...
Excuse me, but I am absolutely knackered, and it's nearly 2230hrs already, so I'll finish here and do a bit more Forum stuff, including about the media throng that, well, thronged me after my glorious victory upon the dais upon the day...(media? who? I didn't see anyone anywhere near you-Ed)...my point exactly...(ahhh, clever-Ed)...
Tomorrow: Lotsa' Stuff
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier, SA 5290...cheers and laters...
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Stress Weighs 3 Kilos
Hello Indonesia, Poland, Netherlands, and Japan and welcome to what is going to be a bit of a dis-jointed really short post because after the CAS Mayoral Forum last night I didn't get home 'til 2300hrs and then to sleep until about 0400hrs this morning, and then woke up 3 hours later 3 kilos lighter...and have been wondering in small circles all day and sort of got some stuff done and sortta' not...I'm a bit of a right off today...
That's 3 separate 'stress' episodes in the last 5 months that have seen me lose 3kgs in a 24-36 hr period...first was when SAPol raided my home, etc, back on May 7/8th 2014...then it was the recent election enrolment day, ballot draw, and third trip back to Council for the meeting that evening (16th September?...and then yesterday evening...just snuck under 100kgs last night...
(Ah yes, I meant to ask, how did it go last night?-Ed)...it was a triumph darling, a triumph, dare one say it one self, a tour-de-force...(so it went well then?-Ed)...can't imagine that it could have gone much better...(you sound very sure of that, you're not overstating the matter a bit?-Ed)...nope...I said my piece and each time had hearty applause, with people clapping some of the points I made before I'd finished...overall I reckon it went really well, and a few people come up to me afterwards and said well done...(well done-Ed)...
Ta'...it was really nice to feel that sense of self and confidence, albeit tattered remnants of what or rather whom I once was...and to receive so much really positive feed-back, including from people who said sorry I won't be voting for you, but still congratulated me heartily for my effort and my passion, etc...and as repeatedly stated to me, Paul Jenner, sitting immediately to my left, and I were the only ones who bought a sense of the unfortunately unpleasant realities that Mt Gambier faces off the back of what the previous coupla' Councils have done ...
Sweatin' bullets early though...(orrr geez, I bet-Ed)...really confronting to get on that relatively low stage in front of that relatively small group (maybe 130?) amongst the relative anonymity of 8 candidates, and then stand and say your piece with all eyes on you...but at least I did stand...David Burt, seated to my immediate right, he and I were the only 2 to stand when speaking, the rest spoke sitting down...
I made the decision going in last night to just play it completely politely and talk about things in a very general and non-accusatory manner and as positively as possible, and indeed I had already promised CAS (Community Action for Sustainability) that that's how I'd roll...it was great that they organised this forum and it's far too important for me to stuff it up and make them less inclined to do it in the future, indeed, it should be a fundamental part of the official election process, organised by the Electoral Commission...
A few people said they read the blog and love it, cheers, and there were a coupla' people who came up and introduced themselves, said well done, and then stated that they read the blog but didn't like it, but having seen me talk and shizzle, that now they 'got it'...(hang on, they've read the blog but don't like it, but they're reading it?-Ed)...yeah, I thought about that, and it could well be that they've read only a few posts and didn't like them, whatevs, but the point being that they were so honest and clearly had no ill-intent, indeed they congratulated me...
And last night I mentioned the blog and said that I'd be polite, etc, and then was exactly that...the words 'corruption', 'child abuse', 'St Martins', 'relentless cavalcade of Conflict of Interest, nepotism, cronyism, etc', etc, never crossed my lips ...I don't think the forum was recorded, but a couple of people said that they wish it was so that it could be put online for all of Mt Gambier to see, not so much for my effort as how very substandard some of the candidates were...and I'll get into that tomorrow...
Just watchin' the Bledisloe Rugby (Aotearoa vs Straya) and I'm sorry my brothers from different mothers (my Papa was a Kiwi), but Australia is gettin' an absolute caning in the refereeing...don't know much about rugby, but I know how to hear the commentators say 'you can't put a knee down there, that should be a penalty to Oz', and shortly after 'you can't dive in like that, should be a penalty to Oz', and Aotearoa has just been allowed a try following a clear knock-on that even I spotted...just sayin'...
OMG: and in the last minute it's an illegal block not paid and then a penalty not paid and a try to Aotearoa and there's another game won and lost on refereeing...and I haven't sat down and watched a full game for quite a while and I gotta' say that NZ play a very unpleasant brand of rugby, constantly committing "cynical fouls" or "professional penalties", and running off-side to slow play, etc, and it's what I'm sure some call a professional 'win at all cost' attitude but to me it looks a lot like cheating...mistakes are mistakes, but if you deliberately, knowingly break the rules to gain advantage, I'd call that cheating...anyhoos, that's a philosophical argument for another day...
Again my cynicism screams quietly at me that the whole thing's rigged and maybe it is and whatevs...maybe it was just a touch of personal bias, who knows, but the manipulation of major sporting events is well documented, albeit more commonly in cricket or football (soccer), etc...anyway, thankyou again to CAS for organising the forum and to everyone who turned out and I'll get stuck into some of it,
Tomorrow: Nuthin' Funny Happened
On the way to the forum, but there were some chuckles once there, although I'm not sure how many of the candidates were actually trying to be funny...(were there any media there?-Ed)...Anelia Blackie from The Border Watch was there but no I didn't see any journalists...(ooo, ouch-Ed)...oh you wait 'til tomorrow and I'm going to really unload about that little incident x2...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...
That's 3 separate 'stress' episodes in the last 5 months that have seen me lose 3kgs in a 24-36 hr period...first was when SAPol raided my home, etc, back on May 7/8th 2014...then it was the recent election enrolment day, ballot draw, and third trip back to Council for the meeting that evening (16th September?...and then yesterday evening...just snuck under 100kgs last night...
(Ah yes, I meant to ask, how did it go last night?-Ed)...it was a triumph darling, a triumph, dare one say it one self, a tour-de-force...(so it went well then?-Ed)...can't imagine that it could have gone much better...(you sound very sure of that, you're not overstating the matter a bit?-Ed)...nope...I said my piece and each time had hearty applause, with people clapping some of the points I made before I'd finished...overall I reckon it went really well, and a few people come up to me afterwards and said well done...(well done-Ed)...
Ta'...it was really nice to feel that sense of self and confidence, albeit tattered remnants of what or rather whom I once was...and to receive so much really positive feed-back, including from people who said sorry I won't be voting for you, but still congratulated me heartily for my effort and my passion, etc...and as repeatedly stated to me, Paul Jenner, sitting immediately to my left, and I were the only ones who bought a sense of the unfortunately unpleasant realities that Mt Gambier faces off the back of what the previous coupla' Councils have done ...
Sweatin' bullets early though...(orrr geez, I bet-Ed)...really confronting to get on that relatively low stage in front of that relatively small group (maybe 130?) amongst the relative anonymity of 8 candidates, and then stand and say your piece with all eyes on you...but at least I did stand...David Burt, seated to my immediate right, he and I were the only 2 to stand when speaking, the rest spoke sitting down...
I made the decision going in last night to just play it completely politely and talk about things in a very general and non-accusatory manner and as positively as possible, and indeed I had already promised CAS (Community Action for Sustainability) that that's how I'd roll...it was great that they organised this forum and it's far too important for me to stuff it up and make them less inclined to do it in the future, indeed, it should be a fundamental part of the official election process, organised by the Electoral Commission...
A few people said they read the blog and love it, cheers, and there were a coupla' people who came up and introduced themselves, said well done, and then stated that they read the blog but didn't like it, but having seen me talk and shizzle, that now they 'got it'...(hang on, they've read the blog but don't like it, but they're reading it?-Ed)...yeah, I thought about that, and it could well be that they've read only a few posts and didn't like them, whatevs, but the point being that they were so honest and clearly had no ill-intent, indeed they congratulated me...
And last night I mentioned the blog and said that I'd be polite, etc, and then was exactly that...the words 'corruption', 'child abuse', 'St Martins', 'relentless cavalcade of Conflict of Interest, nepotism, cronyism, etc', etc, never crossed my lips ...I don't think the forum was recorded, but a couple of people said that they wish it was so that it could be put online for all of Mt Gambier to see, not so much for my effort as how very substandard some of the candidates were...and I'll get into that tomorrow...
Just watchin' the Bledisloe Rugby (Aotearoa vs Straya) and I'm sorry my brothers from different mothers (my Papa was a Kiwi), but Australia is gettin' an absolute caning in the refereeing...don't know much about rugby, but I know how to hear the commentators say 'you can't put a knee down there, that should be a penalty to Oz', and shortly after 'you can't dive in like that, should be a penalty to Oz', and Aotearoa has just been allowed a try following a clear knock-on that even I spotted...just sayin'...
OMG: and in the last minute it's an illegal block not paid and then a penalty not paid and a try to Aotearoa and there's another game won and lost on refereeing...and I haven't sat down and watched a full game for quite a while and I gotta' say that NZ play a very unpleasant brand of rugby, constantly committing "cynical fouls" or "professional penalties", and running off-side to slow play, etc, and it's what I'm sure some call a professional 'win at all cost' attitude but to me it looks a lot like cheating...mistakes are mistakes, but if you deliberately, knowingly break the rules to gain advantage, I'd call that cheating...anyhoos, that's a philosophical argument for another day...
Again my cynicism screams quietly at me that the whole thing's rigged and maybe it is and whatevs...maybe it was just a touch of personal bias, who knows, but the manipulation of major sporting events is well documented, albeit more commonly in cricket or football (soccer), etc...anyway, thankyou again to CAS for organising the forum and to everyone who turned out and I'll get stuck into some of it,
Tomorrow: Nuthin' Funny Happened
On the way to the forum, but there were some chuckles once there, although I'm not sure how many of the candidates were actually trying to be funny...(were there any media there?-Ed)...Anelia Blackie from The Border Watch was there but no I didn't see any journalists...(ooo, ouch-Ed)...oh you wait 'til tomorrow and I'm going to really unload about that little incident x2...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...
Friday, October 17, 2014
Filling In The Gaps
Hello and welcome to the blog and wow it's hammering down out side and I'd reckon it's well welcomed....
And that was as far as I got with yesterday's post at approx 0630hrs before the phone started ringin', then I headed out, and then last night there was the Agricultural and Horticultural Show Society meeting re sale of the North-West corner of the Showgrounds to Aldi, which meant I got home after 2200hrs and went to this 'ere computer only to turn around again and walk away...had a bit of a 'that damn computer isn't going to run my life, there's nothing that can't wait 'til the morn' moment...I've gone from nearly all day at the blog to barely time to get to it at all, literally filling in the gaps...
This situation is of course a temporary one re the Mayoral Candidacy stuff, and is duly exacerbated by the fact that SAPol still have my laptop, that they "seized" as 'evidence' and/or an 'exhibit' or whatevs back in May 2014 when they raided my home and stated to me that I should "expect to be charged" for talking about the fact that a (if not the most) powerful state Authority allegedly did what that Authority is supposed to do...and that Authority has been all over the local media recently trumpetting it's own wondrousness for exposing a limited series of farcical minor infractions by a small group of low-ranking public employees...
Pardon the obscureness of the last paragraph, but I've still got the whole 'probably can't even name the Authority' bullshit hangin' over me...(even though you haven't been charged-Ed)...indeed...and I completely reject this bleating from said Authority that 'hey, gee whiz, our powers/legislation are a bit restrictive so we'll look at that'...the Rann/Weatherill Labor government fought against even forming this particular Authority, and has then deliberately set-up a very scary 'Star Chamber' style body that has absolute power to completely censor issues out of the media, hold secret meetings where you can be forced to answer questions, etc, etc...
And if I'm not at home I'm stuffed, no laptop you see...and I've realised just how much I rely on the 'cut and paste' thingy stuff you can do with a computer that on the written page soon becomes an irretrievable mish-mash of arrows, cross-outs, add-ons, etc...for all my terrible typing and Editorial expletive deletion, etc, doing the blog on a computer is really the only way...I'm a convert...(after 20 months of doing this blog?-Ed)...yeah, well, ya' don't wanna' rush into these things...
So hello Tunisia, Colombia, Canada, and France and welcome to the blog...and of course the big news locally is that there was no vote either way last night re a Showgrounds sale to anyone, it's been deferred re the Constitution...the impression I got was that there were (obviously) 2 camps, one for, one against, but the pro-Salers were quite subdued...overall it was a very polite meeting that was very well attended...they kept crackin' wise that it would be great to see that many people rock-up for the A&HS Annual General Meeting..
I'm somewhat less impressed with whom didn't show up...no-one from Mt Gambier City Council, not Mayor Perryman, not one Councillor...if there was anyone there from Council I didn't see them, hear them, etc, and it certainly wasn't in a 'Council' capacity...nor was there the rumoured/expected presentation from the Real Estate agents involved, in fact I'm not sure they were there either...certainly weren't referred to...and of course no-one from ALDI...(actually it's 'Aldi', not 'ALDI' I think-Ed)...whatevs...and 'Aldi' still haven't even acknowledged my email and/or phonecall...
I'm not entirely sure who exactly has been pushing this potential sale from within the A&HS, but clearly it has been pushed by Aldi whom allegedly approached them in the first instance, as noted repeatedly in the meeting...and also noted, that the block involved was worth way more than the $1.3million on offer, eg, $7m for another block that sold a couple of years back...I think that chap was referring to the Woolworths/Big W thingy on Penola Rd, but whatevs...there's an interview with A&HS Society President Peter Woodroofe currently on ABC Local Radio...but moving on...
The SA parliament has just passed legislation that allows for Wind Turbines on Crown Land in a context where 'the pastoral leaseholder can negotiate with Turbine developers, but if they (leaseholder) oppose Turbines the state government will force them on to that site'...(so basically leaseholders can negotiate right up until those Turbines are going there anyway?-Ed)...exactly...it's another round of blatantly Fascist legislation that removes access to Courts and/or any opposition...
This legislation means that if a Turbine company says 'we're putting 100 Turbines on your lease' that's it, it's happening...I've been researching the term 'Crown Land' but there's sortta' floating definitions that seem to indicate National Parks are included in that, and then it broadens to include land for schools, parks, etc...I'll try to find a specific definition, and can only re-iterate my absolute opposition to 1) the definitively Fascist pro-Turbine legislation that denies access to the Courts, and 2) the ludicrously inefficient Turbines themselves...
Minister Ian Hunter stated that re this new legislation, 'it's a bit like mining', there's provision for 'negotiation', but ultimately the mining company get their way...it fascinates me how the Greens amongst others (and I am a bit of a greenie myself) can continue to rail against the lack of rights for farmers/landholders/whatevs when it comes to mining/fracking/whatevs, yet they (Greens) completely ignore the same issues with the Fascist Turbine legislation...(well that's because they like Turbines but not mining-Ed)...well that's exactly the point I was already making, but thanks for your input...
Heard an interesting thingy on the ABC coupla' weeks back about 'foraging' for herbs, fungi, etc, and a caller stated that there was this wonderful chef in Mt Gambier, Kirby Shearing, who 'takes people on foraging classes including scouring rock-pools, etc' (paraphrasing but close)...I rang the ABC to state my belief that it's actually strictly illegal to 'take' anything from the Inter-tidal Zone, but my comment was not read out...
Same thing happened when A-grade Betrayer, Member for Frome Geoff Brock helped Labor pass their Marine Parks legislation and was on the ABC and I rang to define that farcicality by observing that the entire Seagrass beds just off Adelaide's suburban beaches, a critically threatened ecosystem that is the nursery for multiple species including the iconic King George Whiting, none of that is protected, at all...the woman who answered the phone agreed with me but when I said my name, her tone changed and my message or even a similar statement was not read out...a critical issue just ignored by the ABC...
And imagine my surprise that the ABC has just announced (earlier today) interviews today with Mt Gambier Mayoral candidates Paul Jenner and (current Councillor) Allen 'Is The Key' Smith...(when are you on?-Ed)...haven't even heard from them...(mmmm-Ed)...indeed, mmmm...and wow, Allen Smith has just straight-out lied about the cost blow-out on the Main Corner, stating that it wasn't a blow-out because Council received $5million for the project that had to be spent on that project..Mr Jenner quite rightly reminded Mr Smith that the $5m was several grants and half went on the Library...
And there was a wall of waffle from Mr Smith about how Heritage issues dictated everything that happened with the Main Corner...(does that include the massive, almost random holes gouged in the side of the old Kings Theatre for the cross-beams?-Ed)...indeed, it looks like someone's pointed from across the site and said 'about there should be right, don't bother measuring it' and then smashed some foot square holes roughly where the beams were going...
Mr Smith also stated that the Solar Lights around the Blue Lake were a goer, stating that the Tenders had been received and accepted...(but I thought there was a bunch of shenanigans about one Tenderer putting in 2 different costings for the BL Lights, then being awarded the Tender, and Council then indicating that it was going to 're-negotiate' upward toward the $120,000 more expensive one, and that The Border Watch announced the awarding of the Tender days before it was actually voted on in Council, etc, etc, and now the whole things been withdrawn and, effectively, a new Tender process will have to be initiated-Ed)...absolutely correct Ed, it's just yet another rank bastardisation of appropriate process by Mt Gambier City Council...(and one that Mr Smith is apparently unaware of-Ed)...
Furthermore Mr Smith reckons everything's just fine with Council's fiscal position, and again Mr Jenner rebuked him for misrepresenting the reality...and it is that reality that will haunt Mt Gambier for years to come, and makes it virtually impossible to make any statements re future projects/initiatives/whatevs...gunna' finish here today and will do a full run-down of the Candidates forum,
Tomorrow: Vote 1 Large Angry Hippy
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...
And that was as far as I got with yesterday's post at approx 0630hrs before the phone started ringin', then I headed out, and then last night there was the Agricultural and Horticultural Show Society meeting re sale of the North-West corner of the Showgrounds to Aldi, which meant I got home after 2200hrs and went to this 'ere computer only to turn around again and walk away...had a bit of a 'that damn computer isn't going to run my life, there's nothing that can't wait 'til the morn' moment...I've gone from nearly all day at the blog to barely time to get to it at all, literally filling in the gaps...
This situation is of course a temporary one re the Mayoral Candidacy stuff, and is duly exacerbated by the fact that SAPol still have my laptop, that they "seized" as 'evidence' and/or an 'exhibit' or whatevs back in May 2014 when they raided my home and stated to me that I should "expect to be charged" for talking about the fact that a (if not the most) powerful state Authority allegedly did what that Authority is supposed to do...and that Authority has been all over the local media recently trumpetting it's own wondrousness for exposing a limited series of farcical minor infractions by a small group of low-ranking public employees...
Pardon the obscureness of the last paragraph, but I've still got the whole 'probably can't even name the Authority' bullshit hangin' over me...(even though you haven't been charged-Ed)...indeed...and I completely reject this bleating from said Authority that 'hey, gee whiz, our powers/legislation are a bit restrictive so we'll look at that'...the Rann/Weatherill Labor government fought against even forming this particular Authority, and has then deliberately set-up a very scary 'Star Chamber' style body that has absolute power to completely censor issues out of the media, hold secret meetings where you can be forced to answer questions, etc, etc...
And if I'm not at home I'm stuffed, no laptop you see...and I've realised just how much I rely on the 'cut and paste' thingy stuff you can do with a computer that on the written page soon becomes an irretrievable mish-mash of arrows, cross-outs, add-ons, etc...for all my terrible typing and Editorial expletive deletion, etc, doing the blog on a computer is really the only way...I'm a convert...(after 20 months of doing this blog?-Ed)...yeah, well, ya' don't wanna' rush into these things...
So hello Tunisia, Colombia, Canada, and France and welcome to the blog...and of course the big news locally is that there was no vote either way last night re a Showgrounds sale to anyone, it's been deferred re the Constitution...the impression I got was that there were (obviously) 2 camps, one for, one against, but the pro-Salers were quite subdued...overall it was a very polite meeting that was very well attended...they kept crackin' wise that it would be great to see that many people rock-up for the A&HS Annual General Meeting..
I'm somewhat less impressed with whom didn't show up...no-one from Mt Gambier City Council, not Mayor Perryman, not one Councillor...if there was anyone there from Council I didn't see them, hear them, etc, and it certainly wasn't in a 'Council' capacity...nor was there the rumoured/expected presentation from the Real Estate agents involved, in fact I'm not sure they were there either...certainly weren't referred to...and of course no-one from ALDI...(actually it's 'Aldi', not 'ALDI' I think-Ed)...whatevs...and 'Aldi' still haven't even acknowledged my email and/or phonecall...
I'm not entirely sure who exactly has been pushing this potential sale from within the A&HS, but clearly it has been pushed by Aldi whom allegedly approached them in the first instance, as noted repeatedly in the meeting...and also noted, that the block involved was worth way more than the $1.3million on offer, eg, $7m for another block that sold a couple of years back...I think that chap was referring to the Woolworths/Big W thingy on Penola Rd, but whatevs...there's an interview with A&HS Society President Peter Woodroofe currently on ABC Local Radio...but moving on...
The SA parliament has just passed legislation that allows for Wind Turbines on Crown Land in a context where 'the pastoral leaseholder can negotiate with Turbine developers, but if they (leaseholder) oppose Turbines the state government will force them on to that site'...(so basically leaseholders can negotiate right up until those Turbines are going there anyway?-Ed)...exactly...it's another round of blatantly Fascist legislation that removes access to Courts and/or any opposition...
This legislation means that if a Turbine company says 'we're putting 100 Turbines on your lease' that's it, it's happening...I've been researching the term 'Crown Land' but there's sortta' floating definitions that seem to indicate National Parks are included in that, and then it broadens to include land for schools, parks, etc...I'll try to find a specific definition, and can only re-iterate my absolute opposition to 1) the definitively Fascist pro-Turbine legislation that denies access to the Courts, and 2) the ludicrously inefficient Turbines themselves...
Minister Ian Hunter stated that re this new legislation, 'it's a bit like mining', there's provision for 'negotiation', but ultimately the mining company get their way...it fascinates me how the Greens amongst others (and I am a bit of a greenie myself) can continue to rail against the lack of rights for farmers/landholders/whatevs when it comes to mining/fracking/whatevs, yet they (Greens) completely ignore the same issues with the Fascist Turbine legislation...(well that's because they like Turbines but not mining-Ed)...well that's exactly the point I was already making, but thanks for your input...
Heard an interesting thingy on the ABC coupla' weeks back about 'foraging' for herbs, fungi, etc, and a caller stated that there was this wonderful chef in Mt Gambier, Kirby Shearing, who 'takes people on foraging classes including scouring rock-pools, etc' (paraphrasing but close)...I rang the ABC to state my belief that it's actually strictly illegal to 'take' anything from the Inter-tidal Zone, but my comment was not read out...
Same thing happened when A-grade Betrayer, Member for Frome Geoff Brock helped Labor pass their Marine Parks legislation and was on the ABC and I rang to define that farcicality by observing that the entire Seagrass beds just off Adelaide's suburban beaches, a critically threatened ecosystem that is the nursery for multiple species including the iconic King George Whiting, none of that is protected, at all...the woman who answered the phone agreed with me but when I said my name, her tone changed and my message or even a similar statement was not read out...a critical issue just ignored by the ABC...
And imagine my surprise that the ABC has just announced (earlier today) interviews today with Mt Gambier Mayoral candidates Paul Jenner and (current Councillor) Allen 'Is The Key' Smith...(when are you on?-Ed)...haven't even heard from them...(mmmm-Ed)...indeed, mmmm...and wow, Allen Smith has just straight-out lied about the cost blow-out on the Main Corner, stating that it wasn't a blow-out because Council received $5million for the project that had to be spent on that project..Mr Jenner quite rightly reminded Mr Smith that the $5m was several grants and half went on the Library...
And there was a wall of waffle from Mr Smith about how Heritage issues dictated everything that happened with the Main Corner...(does that include the massive, almost random holes gouged in the side of the old Kings Theatre for the cross-beams?-Ed)...indeed, it looks like someone's pointed from across the site and said 'about there should be right, don't bother measuring it' and then smashed some foot square holes roughly where the beams were going...
Mr Smith also stated that the Solar Lights around the Blue Lake were a goer, stating that the Tenders had been received and accepted...(but I thought there was a bunch of shenanigans about one Tenderer putting in 2 different costings for the BL Lights, then being awarded the Tender, and Council then indicating that it was going to 're-negotiate' upward toward the $120,000 more expensive one, and that The Border Watch announced the awarding of the Tender days before it was actually voted on in Council, etc, etc, and now the whole things been withdrawn and, effectively, a new Tender process will have to be initiated-Ed)...absolutely correct Ed, it's just yet another rank bastardisation of appropriate process by Mt Gambier City Council...(and one that Mr Smith is apparently unaware of-Ed)...
Furthermore Mr Smith reckons everything's just fine with Council's fiscal position, and again Mr Jenner rebuked him for misrepresenting the reality...and it is that reality that will haunt Mt Gambier for years to come, and makes it virtually impossible to make any statements re future projects/initiatives/whatevs...gunna' finish here today and will do a full run-down of the Candidates forum,
Tomorrow: Vote 1 Large Angry Hippy
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...
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