Letters To The Editor
Is the Cost of Change Too High?
As do an abundance of fellow Americans, I support my country's leadership. And with that same abundance, I've had my occasional disagreements with a policy here and there. Our policy regarding an Iraqi regime change is not one of those 'occasional disagreements' though.
Saddam Hussein, along with his dictatorial regime, pursues the same horrific intents as those of Bin Laden and Al Queda, that is, to instil as much harm on the west as possible. Though disagreement within America is becoming more robust by the day, little exists when it comes to debating the identity and desire of Saddam's terrifying intent.
Where I disagree with my conservative colleagues is in one key area. The argument was recently made that Iraqi citizens, for the most part, support the likely action to overthrow the oppressive dictator responsible for their perils and poverty. I respectfully disagree.
Let me put this into a more easily understood analogy.
Why does Wall Street often dislike change? Because of risk. Change inherently involves risk. Risk of an undesired or unexpected outcome. Risk of failure. Risk that the process of change may come at a greater than expected cost, or take longer to complete. These are the same types of concerns as those in the uneasy stomachs of Iraqis at this very moment.
In order for Allied forces to overthrow Saddam, they must launch a military offensive. And once the bombs drop, Iraqi society comes to a grinding halt. People quit buying, income flows choke, merchant ships reverse course. In other words, for Iraqis to support an Allied-induced regime change, they thus risk doing without the bare minimum upon which they live. I can think of few Americans, if given similar conditions, who would willingly accept such ambiguity. And this is far from their justified concerns of bombs landing in their own neighbourhoods.
I still support overthrowing this man's dictatorial rule; however, no overthrow is justified unless the worries of the Iraqis are fully addressed and communicated. Iraqis may despise Saddam as much as we do, but don't expect any pro-invasion rallies in Baghdad anytime soon. I truly believe that Iraqis comprehend the evils if Saddam. But they also comprehend and debate the risks of the process of purging their leadership.
Don't blame them. We would do no differently.
Mike Williams
Atlanta, USA
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Bushfire Thanks
A huge thank you for the fantastic firefighting effort during the week of December 16 to: the Stoney Chute, Blue Knob, Nimbin, Larnook, and The Channon bush fire brigades.
Also to everyone else who gave up their time and a few good nights sleep to support us during the challenging time of this fire.
Tarang Bates and the Moondami Community
Nimbin
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Council Praise
Some readers may be aware of the resignation of a Group Manger with Ballina Shire Council. This should be of interest to the ratepayers of Ballina Shire, although I appreciate the majority would be unaware of individual senior staff, or of their achievements on behalf of the Shire community.
Prior to commencing in Ballina, this Manager simultaneously managed two major city shopping complexes, and has a breadth of experience and achievement in private enterprise situations.
Coming from the corporate world into local government has its challenges, but people with a high level of professionalism, and a wealth of experience in the 'cut-throat' world of big business have enormous benefits for Council. However, I can assure every ratepayer, the focus is never off the bottom line - your bottom line. No matter the issue, the goal is always the best possible financial outcome for Council.
The wider Shire community would be aware of recent significant changes at Council - a fully operational, regularly monitored and updated web-site; a 'one-stop' inquiry counter in the foyer of Council building, replacing a much less 'customer friendly' system; a range of community consultation strategies that are frequently utilised; improved support practices for a range of Community environmental groups. These obvious changes are the result of significant changes behind the scenes, in terms of philosophical approach, new processes (including reporting to Councillors), improved staff skilling opportunities, and so forth. I believe the achievements of our Council staff team in the last 18 - 24 months are quite amazing, and should be publicly recognised and applauded.
Those of you who have spent time at our Council meetings would be aware of the dynamics of we Councillors as a group; you would have witnessed the mayor of the day - take your pick - constantly striving to keep the meeting focussed on the business of the day, amid interruptions, demands, heckling, challenges, insults, asides, arguments, and plain bad manners and arrogance.
I believe that for some of our senior staff, that scenario represents their workplace, day after day, week after week. Not only is their professionalism questioned, but insinuations are made about their honesty and ethics. There is an expectation that staff will stop what they are doing to listen to, and immediately accede to, the demands of the Councillor. I have heard the shouted threats and demands and have witnessed some of the insulting, demeaning ways staff are treated.
For competent, professional people trying to get on with the job, this situation must be so frustrating and disappointing. I ask myself why anyone would choose to remain in such a work environment, when there are alternatives.
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge the achievements of our Council staff, particularly our Group Managers, and to wish those leaving our employ every satisfaction in any future endeavours.
Cr Marilyn Perkins
Wollongbar
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CBD Upgrade
One wonders why it has taken so long for the current, and no doubt increasingly ongoing, debate over the proposed upgrade to Molesworth Street to manifest itself. A cynic might link the belated debate with the current proposed expansion of Lismore Square.
For far too long, the residents and shoppers of this City have endured a CBD shopping precinct that is, in environment terms, generally not particularly shopper friendly. Apart from the very pleasant areas in Magellan Street, there is no appreciable space that one is able to escape the often challenging weather this area offers. Currently an escape can be had, for both shopper and vehicle, at the likes of Lismore Square and no doubt this escape will continue to increase at some future time.
One can appreciate the difficulties facing business owners at this time, as they grapple with a debate that perhaps should have been generated when the original plans for the CBD upgrade were commenced with the Magellan St issue some years ago.
There is little point in the 1 hour vs. 2 hour CBD parking debate and numbers of parking places etc if in the long run there are no customers left to park in the allocated areas. As we all become more discerning in our shopping habits, our primary concern turns to comfort during the experience. (Witness the number of shoppers in Lismore Square vs. CBD during the very hot days leading up to Christmas).
Until the likes of Molesworth St is rendered in a state that affords us shoppers a significant degree of comfort or pleasure, (in the form of trees/shade/seating etc) the exercise of debating the issue of parking spaces and the time shoppers can use them for, is totally meaningless.
Brian Wheatley
Larnook
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Florrie Success
Please thank Shaggy for so generously giving up his page two space last week (Echo, Jan 16) for the appeal for photographs of the MV Florrie along the Richmond River between 1880 and 1975, from Ballina as far as Casino.
Editor Simon Thomsen, Terra Sword and other staff deserve our delighted thanks. Already several Florrie photographs and memorabilia have surfaced.
Florrie enthusiasts might not be aware that at the Regional Museum, in the former Lismore council chambers, as well as the Save the Florrie display, there is the carved and painted wooden bowplate from the Florrie, installed above the entrance to the main chamber.
This bowplate, also known as a billet head or trailboard, was a gift to the museum in 1957 by Mr Harry Grant, on behalf of the then owners, the Grant brothers. The carving is of a woman's head, with a raised bunch of purple grapes, surrounded by green leaves and curling tendrils, with a hole for a chain.
To me this carved piece seemed so elaborate for such a sturdy workboat but historian Helen Wilson, who with her husband Richard J Wilson, a retired master mariner, wrote the praised Florrie, A History, assured me that such intricately-carved pieces were the style back in the latter 19th Century.
Marelle Lee
Lennox Head
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Monkey's Uncle
Howard's decision to back the US by sending our troops to Iraq without bipartisan support and against public opinion is, in a way, further cementing the case of evolution. He's making a monkey out of everyone. This also shows how much control the US has over our politicians.
So just who is looking after Australia's interests, in the interest of Australians?
John Strawbridge
Ballina
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Talking Trash
Sugar cane farmers would be foolish to send their cane trash to the Broadwater sugar mill co-generation power plant. It is too important for the soil.
Organic matter (ie. cane trash) contains valuable nutrients and provides improved water retention, soil structure and nutrient holding capacity. It is also the food for soil life, like worms and bacteria, which are vital for nutrient storage and availability.
Burning this important resource (on the farm or at the power plant) enslaves the farmer to a cycle of increasing fertiliser use and decreasing productivity. Chemical fertilisers are expensive and the environment doesn't benefit either - fertiliser production is very energy hungry, as is the packaging, shipping and application of these fertilisers.
So much for renewable energy. The Broadwater co-generation plant is another example of the inbuilt inefficiencies of our economic system. Who benefits from this proposal? Not the farmer.
Maybe the $50 million could be better invested in real renewable energy sources such as wind, solar or tidal. Perhaps the co-generation plant is really about the burning of native forests for electricity production and you can't do that at a windfarm.
Anthony Neenan
Larnook
Editor's note: Using native forests trash as fuel has been ruled out by the proponents of the co-generation plant.
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Do Unto Others
By now it's blatantly obvious that Andrew Bolt (Sunday Mail) is one of, or the most, racist, hateful, scare-mongering, warmongering idiotic journalist in Australia.
Bolt's one-eyed blinkering view of the Bali suspects of the tragic bombing is typical, "look at them they're laughing!"
Bolt accuses them and the police of laughing and smiling. Okay it looks as though something someone has said, something in Indonesian that made them laugh. Was it wrong? Maybe, probably. But how many times have we seen huge missiles or armed tank gun turrets with graffiti on it. One we saw last week on a tank turret was very neatly done, "all the way to Baghdad". It shouldn't surprise us though because both nuclear bombs dropped on Japan was smothered in graffiti greetings by Christian fundamentalist Yankees.
No wonder the USA's enemies want their own nuclear weapons. Why not? The yanks have got thousands of them. Maybe they should spray "sorry for killing your innocent babies" on these turrets and bombs.
Frosty Grego
Evans Head
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