Last Tuesday’s full council meeting was postponed due to the cyclone emergency that thankfully didn’t happen. That was the meeting where the mayor had promised to defend the indefensible about her Indian trip: why the council (read ratepayers) paid for a Townsville Bulletin reporter to tag along. The Magpie will remind madam mayor not to forget to tell us all about it at the next council meeting.
While we’re down at council, perhaps we should ask The Man Who Would Be King, Deputy Doo-Dah Les Messagebank Walker the details of a proposed development down on The Strand which is set to start a massive shit fight that could easily end up in court. Have council rules been flouted, waived or at least bent a little? A little game of ‘join the dots’ sends one into deep contemplation.
And Adani is in panic mode, with dire public threats against its well being unless they toe the Townsville line.
But first …
To quote old Ming Menzie’s ode to the newly crowned Queen Liz, ‘We did but see her passing by …’ but in our case , it was Cyclone Debbie … if you could see out to see far enough.
But when she finally barrelled ashore well south of here, it was the juvenile reporting and irresponsible attempt at heroics by the media in the middle of the maelstrom that was most widely condemned. Bentley neatly summed it up.
Apparently, before Debbie, all the hot air was from the usual suspect: we were all in panic at her approach … or at least according to the Townsville Bulletin, which first tried to help that idea along by printing a tracking map five days ahead, which had Debbie smacking into the ‘Ville head-on.
Not satisfied with that monumental naivety, iditor Ben Bogan English proved that Debbie wasn’t the only blow-hard set to annoy the locals. When The ‘Pie posted this pic and comment, the derisory reaction came from near and far
March 27, 2017 at 9:18 am (Edit)
Oh for fuck sake, Bulletin, you really are a pathetic disgrace and have lost all judgement in a fruitless attempt to show you’re ‘one of us’.
‘Panic is gripping Queensland’? You manage to come up with this insulting and completely untrue, unsupported statement, in face of all the controlled and calm preparations for something we are used to … but you obviously are not.
Yet again, The ‘Pie is compelled to refer you to the dictionary.
‘panic 1 |ˈpanik|
noun
sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behaviour’
So you are suggesting ‘wildly unthinking behaviour’ is the hallmark of our studied, well-rehearsed and timely preparations. It is clear the only ‘uncontrolled fear and anxiety, causing wild and unthinking behaviour’ is yours, Bulletin. Suggesting a whole state is in panic gives yet another reason that no one can trust a single word you print.
Absolutely pathetic.
And Mr Language Bloke sends this note to just about all media: despite the modern Trumpian tendency to make words mean what they don’t. There is only ONE meaning of ‘carnage’ …the killing of a large number of people. Which you may have noticed, DIDN’T HAPPEN!
Now To The Other Windy Menace
This also appeared about the same time, and as The Magpie commented at the time, seems a self-evident caption for the photograph.
But it neatly fits what is to come anyway, when Mayor Mullet tells the council why she used ratepayers’ money to squire a Bulletin reporter on her PR trip to India.
A commenter says he approached the council with a request to answer four questions on the matter, and was told the mayor would give a statement at the next full council meeting (last Tuesday’s Walker Street Right Arm Aerobics class was postponed due to the uncertainty about the cyclone). These are the questions asked.
Mangrove Jack March 27, 2017 at 1:11 pm (Edit)
Why did Council feel the need to take along Bulletin employees?
Was this voted on by Council?
How much did these guests (Bulletin employees) cost the Ratepayer?,
Who ultimately bears the cost of the trip by Townsville Officials and their guests?
How much truth is there in the suggestions that are rife in local talk about the Townsville Council, that the Council is in serious financial trouble?
Good luck with the last one, Mangrove, old mate. We all eagerly await the honeyed words from the mayoral perch.
Geez, Adani Must Be Shitting Themselves.
The Bulletin has put them on notice that failure to anoint Townsville as their FIFO choice will have consequences. This from a recent iditorial.
So there, Adani, cop that, if you don’t come up with the goods, we’ll … we’ll … we’ll jolly well show you. Maybe a boycott on Indian Tonic Water? Shades of Monty Python’s Black Knight!
Fair dinkum, this iditor lives in some sort of parallel universe peopled by petulant eight year olds (say hello to Donald Trump for us, mate).
By the way, the prevailing juvenile mindset is emphasised when a reporter is allowed to refer to the people of Rockhampton as ‘muppets’. Playground stuff.
But At News, Like Decaying Fish, The Rot Starts At The Head
News Corpse CEO Robert Thomson
Seriously, this bloke can’t help himself, and after last’s week rib-tickler about digital dirty tricks, News Corpse CEO (does that make him a ‘deadhead’?) Robert Thomson takes one straight out of the Donald Trump playbook … they shalt accuse others of your own sins. This popped up in the Roy Morgan news summary during the week.
News blasts Google, Facebook
The Australian – Page 19 & 22 : 31 March 2017 Original article by Adam Creighton
Roy Morgan Summary
News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson has called for Google and Facebook to be subject to the same standards as other publishers. He accused them of failing to do enough to distinguish between real news and “fake” news, despite the fact that they have made huge profits from publishing both. Thomson also claimed that Google’s search algorithm is designed to give prominence to the company’s own products in search results, and he criticised Google for refusing to accept responsibility for displaying clients’ ads alongside objectionable YouTube content.
Errr, Bobby, mate, been to Townsville lately?
Seems Les Has Got At least One Message
Deputy Doo Dah Les Messagebank Walker
Seems there could be an almighty shit fight looming down on The Strand near the marina. The ‘Pie doesn’t have the nitty gritty just yet, but here is what he has so far.
You may remember that a while ago, the Astonisher (and The Magpie) reported that Richard ‘Spiderman’ Ferry and business chum Col Harkness – of Elliot nee Rocky Springs fame – have been seeking to build a restaurant over the sub-station outside the Tobruk Pool, at the entrance to Mariners North. This despite no provision for parking and no real consultation with the labyrinthian jumble of body corporates on the marina peninsula. Clearly, certain standard planning requirement – particularly car parking – would have to be waived for the matter to proceed.
Yet The ‘Pie is told that in what appears to be a somewhat unilateral action, Les Walker has signed off on the matter as chairman of the Planning and Development Committee. Not that it would matter that much as to the possibility of naysayers, the other committee members being Mayor Mullet and councillors Ryder, Greaney, Molachina and Soars. (Altogether now, right arms ready, class).
Some adjacent apartment owners are mightily pissed off – others are not – and there are fears that when the popular sailing club which will adjoin the proposed second storey restaurant, will not get it’s lease renewed in three years time. Instead, there are dark rumblings that messers Ferry and Harkness are angling for an apartment block on the site. Dollar signs flash like neons in the night.
The ‘Pie admits that at this stage, his info is sketchy, but what he has is enough reliable smoke to start looking for flames. And joining a few dots is fun, too. Spiderman Ferry and Mr Harkness are the prime movers behind the finally activated Elliot (formerly Rocky) Springs development which has had a long and tortuous history that even Mooney couldn’t bulldoze through (even now, there seems to still be questions about the water supply).
And which dot to join here … why, that one that shows that Elliot Springs is in the council’s Wulguru division. Which is Deputy Mayor Les Walker’s division. So safe to say Messagebank knows the two developers in question, and they would have little problem gaining access for a intimate chat about their Strand plans. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but then, the council is supposed to represent all ratepayers openly and transparently.
The Magpie trusts further information which is coming his way shows that that is the case. Which he is sure(ish) that it is.
Interesting Pic
Is this a kookabbit? You make up your mind.
Well, They Are Called Solicitors
Tucking up prisoners in jail is hard enough, so outside distractions are not welcome. As the NSW Department of Corrections made clear with this message they send to all female lawyers coming to see clients.
Spoilsports.
That’s it fore this week. Join in the comments and follow The Townsville Magpie on Facebook … and even the occasional tweet. Join in the comment fun, too, it’s anonymous.
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