My Magnificent Octopus

Hello to Aotearoa (New Zealand), Kenya, Canada, and India and welcome to the blog...my Magnus Opus if you will...and just quickly explaining my own joke re the post 'Nerrrr, People A' Ignorant'...it was a specific reference to and/or the comments from our Attorney General John Rau re the state authority overseeing this farcical pantomime of 8 SAPol officers getting busted for relatively minor theft offences...the J-Man was waving away criticisms of said authority with a series of dis-jointed even irrelevant comparisons whereby basically all of the immediately obvious faults and failings of said authority that are apparent to anyone who even glances that way, all of that is your/my misunderstanding of Johnno's version of reality...

(But I don't like Johnno's version of reality...because it's bullshit-Ed)...indeed, a coherent if somewhat verbose treatise on this manipulation of fact and figure and cleverly crafted long-winded non-responses for political expedience...(no, it's because it's bullshit, all bullshit...pure and simple...came out of a bull, is made of...-Ed)...yeah ok, ok, I think we get the point...and I re-iterate my point that there's been a surge of chatter from these people about how they probably need tough new laws...and I was stunned to here within this discussion a situation I'm in being mentioned/criticised as being 'inappropriately restrictive'...it's a farcical faux complaint to mask the intended nature of this 'restriction'...(and that's about all we can say about that-Ed)...indeed...

(Go on, say it-Ed)...no, I don't want to...(ahah, come on-Ed)...nooo, don't want to...alright already, stop looking at me like that...yesterday I was assailed with someone's opinion that Stuart Stansfield's interview of Mt Gambier Show Society's President Peter Woodroofe was excellent, particularly where he (Stuart) reminisced about a valuation of the strategic site over 20 years ago, and that the current offer/deal/whatevs was around the same amount...(but what about 20 years of inflation, land value increases, etc, it must be worth heaps more by now-Ed)...I believe that that is the point that was cleverly politely made...

(See, that wasn't so bad now, was it?-Ed)...get stuffed...and as is my wanton need upon addiction teeters to fall below sight and so out of my mind...(cop that for some Love poetry from back in the day, basically it's saying 'just because it's how I roll')...so as is my way, I redress the imbalancing and disconcerting phrasing of praising by noting that I'm still yet to hear anything from the ABC about their Candidate Profile interviews, and in the Tatiara Mayors forum on the ABC this morning, one of the guests (James DeBarro?) stated that Stuart Stansfield had instigated and organised this on-air forum...

And just reported just like that Labor writes-off $47million on the Gawler Rail project...$47m just gone...(well it's only money, when we run out again this year we'll just sell the forests again-Ed)...indeed...

I thought it was just me, but several people have commented that Mayor Steve Perryman was absent from the recent SAPol Commemoration Day ceremony at the Mt Gambier SAPol Station...I didn't go either, but I thought I'd picked up the absence of Mr Perryman's name in the list of guests read on the ABC the next day...it has also been put to me by a senior public figure who did go that there wasn't anyone at all from the Mt Gambier City Council in attendance...it strikes me as extraordinarily odd that Councillors and/or Mayor Perryman, whom have been droppin' outta' trees at every other function, didn't attend this one...

The Pool: I'm just going to dot point this because I've covered heaps of it in previous posts...like AG Johnno's spiel the other day, there's a sense that they've got my blog in front of them ticking off the points much the way I'm doing right now, but given the bleedin' obvious nature of the issues raised/denied/whatevs it's somewhat inevitable that we'd all end up running over the same old ground...anyhoos...

1)  Poppycock!...

Right, that's that sorted, moving on, with the ALDI sale there's...(hang on, hang on-Ed)...no, you hang on because that was just a hilarious dissertation on the content in it's entirety and a trap into which you have stumbled and bazinga! the trap is sprung...and you sir, are now in The Dead Joke Zone...(and so are you-Ed)...damn...

1)  Don Astin is the man whom Mayor Perryman rudely chastised for standing up and trying to speak at Council's September meeting...I've covered this...rude and aggressive and dismissive...forget 'told', it was scold;
2)  acknowledge the public petition and immediately dismiss it and move on;
3)  'strings attached' is the excuse that Council has used again and again to spend well over $20million on the Library and a completely useless Main Corner, etc...it is the plans that Council presents when applying for the grants...it is my understanding that those funds could have been used for the same style of projects at/around the Aquatic Centre, if that's what had been presented/requested;
4)  how jealous am I that I can't get this sortta' help from Council...won't even look at me;
5)  I do not believe one single word coming out of Council on this issue, they have clearly decided against it many years ago, and as many put it to me, it's because none of them swim and Mayor Perryman has his own pool at his motel;
6)  what idiot suggested covering the current pool...in his Candidate's Profile...dismiss that idea and move on;
7)  again, a bunch of figures prepared and provided by a Council that clearly doesn't want to build a pool...I don't know why, but they don't...all of these same considerations were completely ignored with the Main Corner;
8)  Council have recently put rates up and down as suits them in the moment...again, any numbers provided are totally unreliable;
9)  I'm not "encouraged" by anything Council has to say on this issue;
10)  and more fear and loathing about rate rises...again with figures sans credibility.

This article is a crass attempt to stifle dissent and steer the debate away from all of the things this Council has done to make a pool nearly impossible...sorted...

Tomorrow: Back To The Hustings

Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...

 

Candy Dates and Sugar Plum Fairies

Hello Taiwan, Romania, the United Kingdom, and Germany...and welcome to the blog and straight into more local stuff...and whilst some suggest I should focus on local issues, there's a world of shizzle out there that's all part of the world we is part of...and that doesn't preclude me from having no idea what is going on with things my own country is doing, eg, our military involvement in Iraq/Syria...

And because I look at these things, albeit from over the horizon, I am very much aware of the life of relative luxury and security I enjoy as an Australian citizen who receives the Disability Support Pension and a beautiful little Housing Trust (Housing SA) place...and excuse me if I do look upon this place as my home not as 'Emergency whatevs' as is the current political expediency for tossing people out of their homes to scrimp pennies for the benefit of well-heeled others...the egalitarian SA doesn't exist anymore if it ever did, certainly dead as a Dodo re the Labor Party, it's all about born-to-rule attitudes and gluttonous accumulation and consumption at the taxpayers expense...

And the first cab off the rank this mornin' is the ABC callin' out to their homies to call in with their opinion about the impending sale of the Showgrounds to a large retailer...'whatcha thinka' that?' they says as opposition to the sale clearly grows...personally, I've heard nuffin', not nuffin'...(didn't you ring them yesterday-Ed)...orrr yeah, sorry, I rang ALDI and spoke to a customer service woman and briefly explained what was happening and asked to speak to Managing Director David Zalunardo about the email I sent him on Wednesday 8th October, without any response...

She went off-line for a minute and came back saying that there was no-one I could talk to...very politely including several apologies, I stated that I knew this conversation was being recorded for 'training purposes' and that this was disgraceful behaviour from ALDI and that I considered it to be very poor form...(very poor form indeed sir, very poor form indeed-Ed)...and that this was an indication that there were concerns to be had about the nature of this deal...

The ABC is stating as 'confirmed' that ALDI have 'made an offer' for the Showgrounds site and that members will vote on this on Thursday, and as this sentence is being finished later in the day...(let's do the Time Warp again-Ed)...it's also front page of The Border Watch what I went out and got after starting this sentence before coming back and finishing it now...now...

More comments from the ABC...could be a very lucrative offer...ALDI might go elsewhere anyway...more jobs...why? many empty sites around town...ALDI yes, sell Showgrounds yes...need new site and grounds unused...corner bad choice re traffic...a few 'yeses' and many 'nos'...and I don't think that many people really appreciate what a disaster that would be to sell-off that site for anything, let alone the mundanicity of yet another supermarket...

ALDI may be great, bully for them, but I withdraw my specific support for them coming to Mt Gambier because of what appears to be a seriously disingenuous and duplicitous attempt to secretly buy-up the Showgrounds that has been effectively exposed, and rather than front the fall-out, they are clearly looking to avoid scrutiny, even now...I may just be some Loose Unit Large Angry Hippy with grandeous delusions of Mayoral proportion, but ignoring me or anyone else is not the thing to do... 

Then it was advertising (repeatedly on the ABC) the Candidates Forum for the Tatiara Council Mayoral candidates as being aired from Bordertown Civic Centre at 0905 Wednesday 15th October 2014 (tomorrrow) and then suddenly at 0700hrs on the ABC it's Stuart Stansfield stating that coming up he'll be talking to 2 of the Mt Gambier Mayoral candidates in 'the first of our head-to-head discussions with the Candidates', apparently...(so when are you on?-Ed)...haven't heard not a thing about not nuthin'...

It's High Time: but New South Wales has started to creep toward clinical trials of Medicinal Marijuana...and our charming Health Minister Jack Snelling, whilst using heavily loaded language like 'supposed benefit' in stating that it's not for politicians to decide, and ignoring that back in July he opposed it, well now it's all about how we won't be doing anything but oh yay we support the NSW trial...(may I?-Ed)...if you don't I will...(fair enough-Ed)...

(Dear Mr Snelling, Just a quick line to let you know that there are people all over the world including right here in Sow Straya who don't give a damn what you think and use Medicinal Marijuana daily because it works, and your bigotted recalcitrance on this issue makes those people criminals. Well done sir. Yours-Ed)...couldn't have said it better myself, though I would have probably more greatly emphasised the 'nobody cares what you think' bit...

And the 6 SAPol officers facing charges story has bobbed up on Morning TV ínterstate and it's all over the radio news, etc, and it's all the usual suspects being quoted as saying that everything's just fine...(just fine-Ed)...I rang the ABC yesterday when this was on and explained my experience with this ludicrous set-up and when I said my name the bloke said 'sorry we can't put you to air' and hung-up...it wasn't rude so much as matter-of-fact...this whole thing stinks like a bucket a' red-herrings in the midday sun with 6 scapegoats right in the firing line...oops, and news just in that 2 more SAPol officers have been charged...

A Laying On Of Hands: and how symbolic of his Catholic substrate that PM Tony Abbott has vowed to squirrel-grip Russian President Vladimir Putin when the Vladstar rocks up to Oz for the OMG20 meetings to be held in Brisbane...(sounds like the OMG20 meetings are not the only thing being held, chortle fnyarck snigger-Ed)...indeed...but seriously, PMTA has apparently stated that he's going to "shirt-front" Vlad 'The Lad' Putin...(nooo!?Ed)...orrr yeah, and then tried to back away from it as being a metaphor for 'a stern talking to'...(problem is that when you keep flingin' mud at people it's not long before ya' run outta' the moral high-ground-Ed)...

And away we go with the first of a number of head to head debates, apparently...and it's Messrs David Burt and Leon Rigopoulous both from 'the education sphere' with Mr Burt running the Independent Learning Centre and Mr Rigopolous running Kip McGrath Education...I've typed some jumbled notes so here goes nuthin'...

Mr Burt Says: since 1992 he was in the Education Dept...'good to me', etc...something about having prospered and payback...then Mr Rigopolous says...it's the people's choice..."I'm of the people"...I'll be a people's Mayor...honour and privilege to have been raised and educated in Mt Gambier...2 boys,  married, got a business helping the children...stronger ratepayers representation...What Has Council Done Well?  DB-outstanding landmark projects, eg, the Hospital...the railway lands is a stand out...the Main Corner-some division but spectacular in own right...mistakes-consultation levels on large budget items...and LR-not for me to speculate mistakes...elected members make decisions, some good, some not good...it's the will of the people...not for me too specify mistakes but to represent interests of people with  forums and communication...

What Needs Changing?...  DB  not a great deal needs changing...being optimistic...ALDI issues, be optimistic...people complain about colour of pavers, etc, but the dust should have settled...'adopt that ethic moving forward' of 'optimism being infectious'...no negatives about candidates or city...lots of optimism, positive examples...LR-I'm forward thinking, what's done is done...get sustainable jobs for the youth, government incentives to business...social connection and sustainable world class facilities increase population...Final Pitch...LR-'my handshake is as good as my promise'...people will elect who they want...DB-excited and thrilled to be in studio...we have to fund ourselves...thrilled...The End

Now this is admittedly a rather disjointed broad paraphrasing but OMG, what a vacuous load of nonsense...loads of everything's just fantastic, it's all Unicorns and Sugar Plum Fairies and let's move forward...(and so much bullshit about not looking back...over and over, from both of them...it's farcical, I mean, how can you deal with Mt Gambier's future without dealing with the gross fiscal mismanagement of this current Council and how that completely compromises Councils for decades to come?-Ed)...indeed...and a caller wants working together with other Councils for industry and being pro-active...

And then a quick throw away reference that because there are so many candidates they'll (ABC) try to cover most across breakfast and morning programs and do some on-line...so they're going to give their preferred candidates airtime and I'll get my comments poached from The Border Watch and/or the Community Action for Sustainability forum and heavily edited and dumped on-line at some point...(but don't the ABC have to-the-second equal coverage regulations re candidate's airtime in election coverage?-Ed)...geez you're good Ed...(well ya' know, one does what one can, doesn't one?-Ed)...indeed the ABC does have very, very strict self-regulation on this issue, but I am apparently special so I'm sure I get special rules from the ABC...again...

And the SA Independent Commission Against Corruption has apparently released it's first annual report today...haven't seen it yet but I heard mention 70+ investigations and of course there was the that big article from The Advertiser that I posted about about a month ago, where-in ICAC Commissioner Bruce Lander stated that there was no institutionalised corruption in SA...today he was stating that there are concerns with some Ministerial staffers and using emails inappropriately, etc...and then the discussion turned toward changing legislation to address issues of emails and social media...

(Call me a cynic, but that sounds awfully like ramping up the justification for a whole new series of laws aimed at people who do social sites, and buffoons who blog, etc-Ed)...guilty as charged, possibly...just for the record, I agree that this sounded like excuses ahead of another raft of legislation from the same people who bought you the rank Fascism of the Wind Turbine legislation that removes any right to oppose Turbine developments in the Courts, and similar choice chunks of De-democracising...(and not a mention of a Minister or a senior SAPol officer or a senior public servant?-Ed)...not nuffin'...not nuffin' but an avalanche of self-congratulatory denial of reality from Premier Jay Weatherill et al...

Tomorrow: The Latest Pool Foolery

Sorry didn't get to it today, again,  but there's so much to cover in that one piece...

Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...

Nerrrr, People A' Ignorant

Hello India, Venezuela, Turkey and the USofA and welcome to the blog for Monday 13th October 2014...and another sortta' cut'n'paste kinda' post but it's kinda inevitable when there's The Border Watch and/or whatevs articles involved and it's only logical that the quickest way to say 'here's what they said' is to post exactly what they said...(that's what I said-Ed)...and that title is the South Park Michael Jackson...(nerrrrr!-SPMJ)...

OMG: I've heard the ABC last week advertise a candidates forum for Councillors at Naracoorte or Millicent I reckons, and today a Mayoral Forum in Bordertown or wherevs, and although I've missed a bit lately because I'm tryin' to be gettin' out on the street wif' ma' peeps for the downlow on the high horse...(what?-Ed)...yeah sorry, lost it a bit at the end there...but on the ABC I've heard not one mention since the nominees were all read out back in September of the 8 candidates here where it is what we is actually at and stuff, and the ballots go out next week and stuff, and stuff all...and stuff...it's almost like they don't want to talk to us...

(Well I'll go way out on a limb and suggest that they're waiting for the Community Action Sustainability Forum on Friday night so 1) that they can report what they want of that and 2) in the way they want and . 3) so that they won't give some loose unit a platform on the precious bloody ABC to spread the love-Ed)...I concur sir...  

But First: Had the distinct displeasure this morn of listening to approx 10 minutes of the ABC Radio's Stan Thompson interviewing former Member for Mt Gambier Rory McEwen whilst Rory held forth about the great work Rory is doing for the children of East Timor because he goes there and builds some things and helps something a whatevs...(you bloody well what? helps the children?-Ed)...orr yeah mate, 10 bloody minutes of it...(what about the children in South Australia? what about the children in Mt Gambier? what about the children at St Martins Lutheran School?-Ed)...indeed...

(What about good ol' Rory's rank betrayal of the 7 year olds at St Martins and their families? and how that betrayal further cemented the institutionalised pro-paedophile corruption that constantly erodes our community?-Ed)...all good questions Ed...but what really burns me is the Stan end of that conversation because my extensive intensive involvement with Rory has shown him to me to be irretrievably insanely passionate in his commitment to his corruption, but how can Stan have a lengthy, matey, bon hommi laden conversation about Rory's great work with kiddies, and appear to genuinely enjoy it?

How do you have that conversation in such a pleasant manner?...Stan Thompson knows exactly what has happened at St Martins, what Rory has done to cover that up, Stan's seen and apparently lost the extensive personal documentation I provided him, etc...there are few people who know more about St Martins than Stan and yet he can sit there and have a good chummy rummy chat with his mate Rory and that's another one they've got through without mentioning St Martins...well done fellas'...you're a pair of champs...

And out of a vague respect I won't name the organisation(s) that Rory was representing and they can deal with having him as their public representative because to me he represents a state effectively being run by paedophiles and every time he raises his head I'm going to give it the metaphoric kickin' he has so thoroughly earned...when a class of 7 year old children is abused and the local member attacks parents to help cover up the abuse and protect the Lutherans, what the hell is that?...(that's a Metaphoric Kickin' offense right there, that's what that is-Ed)...yeeha...  


And you and I Rory, we have so very, very much in common...in each and every room we share our precious air with oh so many who hate us and who loathe us and every conversation beyond earshot is look at that shrecking bastard and what he has done...that's what they're saying Rory...you know it, I know it, we know it...they know what you are and what you have done to help the Lutheran Church cover-up the gross abuse of dozens potentially hundreds of children at St Martins School at the hands of "text-book grooming paedophile" teacher Glyn Dorling... 

I completely reject this farcical pantomime being played out today in Adelaide where 6 lower to mid-level SAPol officers are being charged for minor theft offenses, and immediately all of the usual suspects like Premier Jay Weatherill and SAPol Commissioner Gary Burns and Attorney General John Rau are carolling the wonders of the particular state authority that's sorted all of this out after getting the info from SAPol...(sorry, so SAPol gave the info that led to the SAPol officers being charged, so why didn't they just do it internally?-Ed)...ah Ed, the question that is the answer...(whaaa?-Ed)...

This is a promotional stunt to 1) big-up how great the authority is and what great work it does, whilst 2) keeping SAPol supposedly at arms length from this action that 3) sets-up SAPol and Ray Jay Weatherill et al to hold forth about how squeaky clean South Australia is, and especially about how SAPol has been thoroughly investigated and all that was found was these few villains rammin' the odd dodgy jammy donut in their sky rocket and then scarperin'...guvna'...

AG 'Herrrres Johnny' Rau was on the ABC Radio from Adelaide (this arvo) making ludicrous comparisons between what happens here with such issues and the stuff being played out in the parallel authority in New South Wales...(yeahh, you haven't named that authority-Ed)...no I haven't have I...or have I?...(do not start that bullshit with me today-Ed)...indeed...but it's also the DeBelle Inquiry shenanigans all over again...it's an absolute pantomime that will be here-on-in perpetually referenced as the be-all and end-all of what supposedly isn't wrong with SA...it's all fine...(just fine-Ed)...just fine...

Please find attached below the other stuff from The Border Watch last Friday 10th October 2014, following on from yesterday's post which had the Candidate Profiles from the same edition...apologies that it's a bit cut-off but it's readable, title says...I would consider the fact that the first letter was even published in Letters To The Editor is an indication or rather reflection of the wide-spread community displeasure with any potential sell-off of the Showgrounds site, eg, the stuff on Limestone Coast News...and the other I'll cover tomorrow...

I also acknowledge those comments, some made directly to me, that some people find entrance fees for the up-coming Mt Gambier Show prohibitively high to the extent that people don't go because families simply cannot afford it, and similarly that site fees are also problematic, and that combined it's a downward spiral...less people attending with less spending means less operators will even attend so the show shrinks and so onward it goes 'til it just stops...this can be fixed...

Bear Grylls new show would be really funny if he dropped off 30 men on an island and left them to it for a week, and comes back and there's only 11 left...(11 very chubby, sheepish looking men?-Ed)...indeed...

Tomorrow: The Pool Of Despair

And other tomfoolery...sorry didn't get to it today...

Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...

Your Mayoral Candidates For Mt Gambier

Hello Russia, France, Brazil, and Ukraine and welcome to the blog and by crikey it's 'kicking orf, not quite starting with but including the attached Candidate Profiles from The Border Watch Friday 10th October 2014, being the fourth in the series of 12...which reminds me that I haven't emailed my answers 5-12 so's I'd better get ontta' that too...(ah, a large angry hippy's work is always doing what never gets done-Ed)...yet...

It is not "News of the Day" as claimed by one morning TV show that a drunk idiot racially abused a train conductor in Sydney/Brisbane/whatevs...it's rascist bullshit that no-one should be subjected to, but I'm fairly sure there's some shizzle goin' down somewhere that is slightly more important...

And our ever pleasant Federal Treasurer 'Smokin'' Joe Hockey has repeated his commentary about "the war" that is ramming his Class War Budget down the throats of an adoring nation, and then ramped up the ridiculous rhetoric by stating that Bill Shorten's Labor should immediately approve all Budget measures to support the massive as yet undefined cost of effectively going to war in Iraq, and backed that up with a direct threat to raise taxes...(hard to cost something when one doesn't know exactly what it actually is or how long it will last-Ed)...indeed...

Ohhh, and he's just gone there again on ABC TV Insiders, the smug forget with the same bare-faced threat spewed forth as a faux regret and such poetry from such anger...he really does punch my buttons does young Joe...there's something about a rich, opinionated, smug bastard openly threatening to raise taxes if he doesn't win his Budget War his way, that somehow sits not quite right with me...(hippy-Ed)...ci... 

I don't usually do obituaries, but with the death of South Australian politician Bob Such, I'm personally back in the very weird space thinking about my own Cancer experiences, etc, but also that stuff when he was diagnosed back at the state Election in March 2014 where I was half-hoping he'd faked it somehow and it was just a sordid political stunt because that would mean that he didn't have Cancer...I don't know why if he was so ill that he didn't retire/resign or what exactly happens from here but probably a by-election for the seat of Fisher...

Tomorrow: More 

Of TBW stuff because there's a truckload just from Friday and check out this shizzle attached below...everybody gets with the program about how great the Main Corner is, including something about 'world class facilities'...(except for one idiot who wants to pull it down-Ed)...yes I do...(no, I was just sayin' that one fool wants to pull it down-Ed)...yes, that's me...(oh, so it is-Ed)...

Also noticed a sudden plague of stobie-pole advertising posters for Mayoral Candidates and current Councillors Andrew Lee and Allen Smith, nominees Bob Sandow and David Burt, and one for prospective Councillor Christian Greco...many of these are right outside the Main Corner and/or Council Chambers and I wonder if that contravenes guidelines about not having advertising material within the proximity of the Electoral office which is in the Council building, that's where you send your postal votes...

Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier

Last Answers For The Border Watch

Hello Spain, Ukraine, Chile, and the USofA and welcome to another apologetically opportunistic post made up of the stuff I ground out today re TBW on what was going to be a sortta' day off for me, but they've been relatively good in not removing too much of my comment thus far and that makes it easier to produce answers, knowing they'll get used...

A Poor Pause Caused Guffaws: when today I heard our charming state Premier Jay 'Sugar Ray' Weatherill state quite emphatically that, and I quote, "we can't run a public hospital system"...(ahahahaa there's nothing funny about that-Ed)...followed by a long pause and then "...with the cuts to health funding made by the Federal government."...and the really hilarious thing is that clearly Labor don't have any idea how to run a Health system...(other than into the ground-Ed)...hilarious...(oh yeah, just hilarious-Ed)...

I still haven't heard/read/whatevs anything from ALDI in response to my email of Wednesday 8th October 2014 about the increasingly dodgy lookin' Showgrounds contract, an issue that is the darling of social media and even in TBW, which is super...except that it's terrible...the sale that is...and also on social media, a comment accusing me of having a 'social conscience'...(oh dear-Ed)...I know...

(It's a lovely thing to say but I think that person may have possibly confused 'social conscience' with 'vain, arrogant Man-Bear Stuff-Pig Scorpio Fire-Horse hellbent on retributional quantification driven through an unfathomable tide of guilt by an unquenchable thirst for vengeance fueled by an unrelenting rage'-Ed)...well yes, quite, but 'social conscience' is kinda' nice...(alright alright, if that's what you want...you don't take compliments well at all do you?-Ed)...not really, but it's still nice....(indeed-Ed)... 

Heaps of stuff about HeadSpace, unfortunately none of which I believe, and/or other Mental Health issues about the place so,

Tomorrow: I'm Going Fully Mental

I'm not sure whether to credit the ABC for their extensive Mentallings across this Mental Health Week, or cynically observe that they've been all over this like stink on a monkey, whilst Child Protection Week came and went without barely a whimper let alone a bang...(I think ya' just did both-Ed)...

Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...

Latest Answers For The Border Watch

Hello and welcome to a quick post for these here answers...a very long day today, half spent doing stuff with/for others and/or re the Showgrounds and then grinding through these answers...it's far harder than doing this 'ere blog, because here I can ramble off on a tangent and meander back via several other relevant points across many paragraphs, not cover everything in 150 words...(and that's before the added complication of trying to operate within fairly rigid guidelines-Ed)...indeed...

No response yet from ALDI but I'd like to think my email means they're aware that there are here abouts some persons not so happy about what appears to be happening...today I found out that whilst this was on social media, etc, on Monday 6th October 2014, some possibly all Show Society members are yet to receive their letter/notification about the 'secret' meeting due to be held next Thursday 16th October 2014 and have in fact found out via said social media...

As per my email to ALDI, the very unfortunate and extensive history of dodgy dealings around the Mount immediately proceeding this situation automatically places it in a poor light, a light further dimmed by the very secretive nature of this process...it is not irresponsible to suggest that it looks like ALDI were trying to get the John Hancocks on this li'l puppy before the rest of Mt Gambier knew...(very poor form sir, very poor form indeed-Ed)...well quite... 

Five months ago now 2 SAPol Anti-Corruption Branch detectives very politely 'raided' my home and seized my laptop as evidence, telling me that I should "expect to be charged" for simply talking about a state authority I still probably cannot name on this 'ere blog...just sayin'...without sayin' it...

Tomorrow: AHHHHHHHThat's Better

Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...

Show Grounds For ALDI Sale

Hello Malaysia, Hong Kong, Moldova and Turkey and welcome to the blog and another fairly local issue that unfortunately has all the hallmarks of some other recent shenanigans...(imagine my surprise at rollin' up for your blog only to discover it's more shenanigans-Ed)...indeed, and the good news I guess is that this is a topic that has found it's way to me directly as a result of my Mayoral candidacy..

Please find attached the email I sent to ALDI this evening after another long day of floggin' about, phonecalls, etc...(and 'losing' another email-Ed)...re the rumoured sale of a goodly chunk of the Mt Gambier Showgrounds...it is fairly self explanatory and I'll do more tomorrow...

As critical as this is, it wasn't the highlight of my day because this morning I was subjected to the glory of another ABC 'Dorothy Dixer' interview with Liberal Member for Barker, Tony Pasin, re the supposed arrival of the HeadSpace adolescent Mental Health service in Mt Gambier as per the Federal announcement of funding for said program ...in previous posts I have covered the gross lack of MH services in Mt Gambier and I really wanted to get onboard with this announcement but my cynicism and reality soon overtook me, went meep! meep!, and disappeared over the horizon as I wheezed to a halt in it's settling dust...

As the interview progressed it was quickly revealed that this ain't the announcement that it's gunna' be built by the Federal government, it's merely a verbal commitment to provide funding for a private contractor to come in and build and staff and run the entire service...(well that's never gunna' bloody happen is it...they can't even get staff for the new 'dedicated MH ward' at the Mt Gambier Hospital and there hasn't been a resident psychiatrist in the Mount for years, in a population context where we should have 5-6-Ed)...indeed...

This spectacular load of political buffoonery is all announcement and zero substance by way of a promotional exercise on behalf of Council and current Mayor and Councillor candidate Steve Perryman...and away goes Tony praising-up Council CEO Mark 'McShenanigans' McShane and Stevo...(mate-Ed)...for the earth-shattering work they've done in MH...(but this current Council voted a coupla' years back to not advocate on behalf of MH patients-Ed)...I know, reality is an inconvenient irrelevance this close to an election...

(They did the same thing with the Aboriginal Flag display issue, voting it down 2-3 years ago, then voting late last year/early this to display it, before taking another 6-8 months to actually make it happen, lying about it along the way, and just in time for that all to be turned into an election stunt as well...just charming-Ed)...charming...and it gets better, they then had Stevo mate on to self-praise-up Council for all of the fantastic work they have done/do in the MH field...(aaahahahahhh...ahaaha...ahahhha, that's just priceless-Ed)...yeah sorry, but the humour escapes me...

And just to kick it on from the sublimely offensive political stunt that it clearly is, on came Greens Senator Penny Wright to say what a great bloke Stevo is and, again, what great work he's done for MH and for the youths, etc, etc...(that's absolute bollocks, he's an arrogant little bully who has no respect for anyone and regularly displays his contempt if and when he actually shows up for shizzle-Ed)...indeed, he didn't even go to the SAPol Commemoration Day service stuff, not nobody from Council did...I wasn't there either but then you wouldn't expect me to be, but it has been observed to me several times that Stevo was conspicuous by his absence...

But this HeadSpace announcement is bizarre beyond bloody words and offensive in the extreme...all the usual suspects getting together to praise each other up about a lie...this is all announcement and no service...I hope to be very wrong and that something does eventuate but I genuinely believe that this defines itself as 100% bullshit...funding for someone else to come and do it? ain't gunna' happen and Tony knows it and so does Stevo and gourd knows what Senator Wright knows because I don't...(wow, whatta' day-Ed)...indeed...

Tomorrow: More Answers And Stuff

Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, Kooringa St, Mt Gambier