Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Spins of the week

You have to pay the political spinners for their sheer creativity (come to think of it, we do). Recent top-scoring spins were Frank Sartor's takeover of the CUB site in Chippendale in the pursuit of 'greater flexibility' (read higher towers, more apartments and car spots, more profit for Fosters & the developers).

That was topped only by Israel gaining an 'extended presence' in Lebanon. I can just picture Cato celebrating his 'extended presence' in Carthage.

Meanwhile the RTA, not satisfied with their upcoming removal of bike lanes from William Street between Palmer & McElhone Sts, has re-applied to the Planning dept to remove the remaining bits from McElhone St to Rushcutters Bay. Their rationale? Once they remove the middle bits, the remainder will be 'discontinuous'.

On those grounds they could justify the removal of all bike lanes in Sydney. The irony is, the RTA caused the whole problem by approving a one-way underground motorway from the Cross-City Tunnel north. There is no return route, so all returning traffic has to use the surface roads. Doh! Fred Nile missed that small glitch -- even though I for one included it in my submission to his enquiry.

This state seems to run not on petrol or ethanol, but on bureaucratic drivel.

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