Alas, poor Estimates; we know them well.
Aye, come Wednesday, we are off on yet another episode from the Bubble entertainment channel. Remarkable things are these heavy duty Indaba; yet despite the 'sound' and carefully controlled fury; the rhetoric, obfuscation and even the odd searching question - nothing ever seems to appear on main stream media, dripping with idiot advertisements, neatly slotted in between dog shows and 'food' fools. Yet the production costs of these supposedly 'important' sessions are right up there with a Hollywood budget. The numbers are worth running; take any session - break it down to an hourly cost - wages for cast, crew, back room advice, catering, transport, equipment and the odd session with a shrink (stress related of course) and you come up with a seriously big number. And for what? I've lost count of the hours wasted watching these pantomimes; always in the hope of 'someone' actually getting 'something' done, let alone achieving any sort of 'outcome'. The paperwork piles up, by the cart load, filed, stored and - forgotten; job done. The only real benefit of 'the crew' sitting through these sessions are the jokes made during recreation of a particular element or person; often hilarious, ribald and so close to being the 'truth' as to make the Angels chuckle. No matter, there is sage advice from the pen of Conan Doyle for the Senators, to wit:-
"To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted."
On Wednesday May 29, year of our Lord 2024, once gain the grudge match between Senators and 'the public service' kicks off at 0900 o'clock (EST). Although 'grudge match' is probably a misnomer; more like Senate lambs to departmental slaughter. There sit the 'departments' safe inside their non elected power base, hands on the levers, untouchable, and hardly even responsible to the ministers they are supposed to serve. The 'Senators' on the other hand have about as much impact, control and 'influence' as I have over the moon rising. Think back to the Pel-Air 'inquiry' - men like Fawcett and Forsyth - dragging up some 60 odd recommendations - then being told their findings were 'advice' only, and totally ignored. Look at the opposition line up for Wednesday, Halfwit to open the batting; what chance do you give the Estimates committee bowlers? (None is the right answer.) The shambles ASA has degenerated into is not a 'recent' thing of concern; the writing has been on the wall for years; clearly visible; count up the concerns voiced over the last years, the advice ignored and the total lack of directional shift over the years which has led to the current mess. ICAO compliance - lip service; SSP acknowledged in the breach and carefully avoided; Commonwealth Aerodrome management sold off to developers; accident investigation an international joke (when they manage to do one - on time) CASA in the hands of an incompetent amateur; all this despite sound, expert advice. And the Senate Estimates committee is going to sort this out? Bollocks. Until there is a serious, bipartisan 'push' to get matters aeronautical back on the rails; supported by 'expert' rather than 'administrative' advice, from industry: we may as well all go and 'stress down' in the play-room with the Lego and jigsaw puzzles, before dining out while recovering and counting up the Pennies we made today. Ayup; life in the bubble must be grand; indecent, immoral, greedy and venal - but grand, nevertheless...
"But man, proud man,
Dress’d in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assure’d—
His glassy essence—like an angry ape
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens,
Would all themselves laugh mortal. "
There is (believe it or not) serious expert 'assistance' available to the Senators; AMROBA for an example. But dear reader that, standing alone, is about as much use as a Chocolate fire wall. The Senators may well see the logic and recognise the value in a 'reform' - but, I'll give you long odds, (seriously long odds) on any form of expertise or knowledge or even common or garden sense being granted admission to 'the agencies'. The walls are high, the barriers formidable and sharp knives await those who dare rock the boat of ineptitude and unsettle the laissez faire allowed by disinterested government. Mark you, all of this is at tax payer expense. Wonderful; abso bloody lootely stellar.
P2 has, once again, done the digging through the the latest hyper bollocks and spin released; all on site - for a laugh see the ATSB latest; for a howl at the moon see the latest confection from CASA - or; if 'sleuthing' takes your fancy; follow up on the 'Croc O' Shite saga and wonder at the antics (or lack thereof) of that dynamic duo, Crawford and Martin; talk about making angels weep. Well, I rest my case M'Lud.
Happy thing this week - a mate is teaching his young daughter the rudiments of carpentry; I had some time and some left over boards; made her a 'tool box' - a proper one; rooted out some basic tools from the 'old' box, and we spent a pleasant afternoon cleaning them up and putting an edge on old steel. The delight shown when the first 'true' shaving from the restored plane came off the billet is a memory I shall keep forever. Sometimes, occasionally, the destination is worth the journey. "Away with yer" I murmur - and off they go; bright moon light showing the way.
Selah -.-
Aye, come Wednesday, we are off on yet another episode from the Bubble entertainment channel. Remarkable things are these heavy duty Indaba; yet despite the 'sound' and carefully controlled fury; the rhetoric, obfuscation and even the odd searching question - nothing ever seems to appear on main stream media, dripping with idiot advertisements, neatly slotted in between dog shows and 'food' fools. Yet the production costs of these supposedly 'important' sessions are right up there with a Hollywood budget. The numbers are worth running; take any session - break it down to an hourly cost - wages for cast, crew, back room advice, catering, transport, equipment and the odd session with a shrink (stress related of course) and you come up with a seriously big number. And for what? I've lost count of the hours wasted watching these pantomimes; always in the hope of 'someone' actually getting 'something' done, let alone achieving any sort of 'outcome'. The paperwork piles up, by the cart load, filed, stored and - forgotten; job done. The only real benefit of 'the crew' sitting through these sessions are the jokes made during recreation of a particular element or person; often hilarious, ribald and so close to being the 'truth' as to make the Angels chuckle. No matter, there is sage advice from the pen of Conan Doyle for the Senators, to wit:-
"To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted."
On Wednesday May 29, year of our Lord 2024, once gain the grudge match between Senators and 'the public service' kicks off at 0900 o'clock (EST). Although 'grudge match' is probably a misnomer; more like Senate lambs to departmental slaughter. There sit the 'departments' safe inside their non elected power base, hands on the levers, untouchable, and hardly even responsible to the ministers they are supposed to serve. The 'Senators' on the other hand have about as much impact, control and 'influence' as I have over the moon rising. Think back to the Pel-Air 'inquiry' - men like Fawcett and Forsyth - dragging up some 60 odd recommendations - then being told their findings were 'advice' only, and totally ignored. Look at the opposition line up for Wednesday, Halfwit to open the batting; what chance do you give the Estimates committee bowlers? (None is the right answer.) The shambles ASA has degenerated into is not a 'recent' thing of concern; the writing has been on the wall for years; clearly visible; count up the concerns voiced over the last years, the advice ignored and the total lack of directional shift over the years which has led to the current mess. ICAO compliance - lip service; SSP acknowledged in the breach and carefully avoided; Commonwealth Aerodrome management sold off to developers; accident investigation an international joke (when they manage to do one - on time) CASA in the hands of an incompetent amateur; all this despite sound, expert advice. And the Senate Estimates committee is going to sort this out? Bollocks. Until there is a serious, bipartisan 'push' to get matters aeronautical back on the rails; supported by 'expert' rather than 'administrative' advice, from industry: we may as well all go and 'stress down' in the play-room with the Lego and jigsaw puzzles, before dining out while recovering and counting up the Pennies we made today. Ayup; life in the bubble must be grand; indecent, immoral, greedy and venal - but grand, nevertheless...
"But man, proud man,
Dress’d in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assure’d—
His glassy essence—like an angry ape
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens,
Would all themselves laugh mortal. "
There is (believe it or not) serious expert 'assistance' available to the Senators; AMROBA for an example. But dear reader that, standing alone, is about as much use as a Chocolate fire wall. The Senators may well see the logic and recognise the value in a 'reform' - but, I'll give you long odds, (seriously long odds) on any form of expertise or knowledge or even common or garden sense being granted admission to 'the agencies'. The walls are high, the barriers formidable and sharp knives await those who dare rock the boat of ineptitude and unsettle the laissez faire allowed by disinterested government. Mark you, all of this is at tax payer expense. Wonderful; abso bloody lootely stellar.
P2 has, once again, done the digging through the the latest hyper bollocks and spin released; all on site - for a laugh see the ATSB latest; for a howl at the moon see the latest confection from CASA - or; if 'sleuthing' takes your fancy; follow up on the 'Croc O' Shite saga and wonder at the antics (or lack thereof) of that dynamic duo, Crawford and Martin; talk about making angels weep. Well, I rest my case M'Lud.
Happy thing this week - a mate is teaching his young daughter the rudiments of carpentry; I had some time and some left over boards; made her a 'tool box' - a proper one; rooted out some basic tools from the 'old' box, and we spent a pleasant afternoon cleaning them up and putting an edge on old steel. The delight shown when the first 'true' shaving from the restored plane came off the billet is a memory I shall keep forever. Sometimes, occasionally, the destination is worth the journey. "Away with yer" I murmur - and off they go; bright moon light showing the way.
Selah -.-