Letters to the editor

EXPLODING BIRD numbers (The Pioneer, 23/12/11)? Tell me about it.

Early in December my apricot tree shed its crop and I said naughty words under my breath as I scraped up the first heap, and the next day the second heap, and waited for the wind to remove the next lot.

I managed to salvage a few, but later that week as I gloomily thought about removing the heaps, I looked at the driveway and saw that the heaps were lesser, and those on the driveway were quite thin on the ground.

A couple of days later they were all gone, even those under the tree and in the shrubbery.

The culprits – or saviours, however the result appeals to one – were the coots, the river birds, that now have an appetite for fruit.

As I put my rake and bags away, I said under my breath: "Good birdies".

A couple of days later I found an empty orange skin on the lawn.

Mystified, I went to the only orange tree on the place and found five coots cleaning up what was left of the crop.

I yelled and flapped my wings, and they awkwardly flew off – but not far.

Then I found relics of my precious tomato crop, carefully nurtured in large pots.

My ‘good birdies’ has now changed to: "Gerrrroutofit you rotten so and so’s."

This does not deter them. They’ve turned to the mulberry tree...

Down at the caravan park and along the flood bank walk they are in large numbers. So beware you growers; you might have an invasion of ‘good birdies’ to clean up your fruit rotting on the vines from downy mildew, or eat the fruit from your trees as my lot did and are still doing.

Y.M. GURR

Renmark

Circumcision info

I AM a PhD student doing some research on male circumcision in South Australia from 1890-1960.

I am looking for any information on male circumcision during this period, including medical procedures, nursing and medical guides.

You may be surprised to learn there is very little information about this, even though it was the social norm at the time.

My phone numbers are 0432 267 616 or 8288 0647 and my email address is polly1011@bigpond.com.

Any help would be appreciated.

MICHAEL WOHLTMANN

Adelaide

Oh, what a year

CHRISTMAS IS a very special time of the year when families and friends gather together, some travelling long distances to remember in warm and familiar company the year that has past, and to plan for the future.

This time last year, most states across this country were wet.

Homes, businesses, crops, livestock, entire communities and even lives tragically washed away.

That a decade-long drought was broken only by the bitter irony of the worst flooding in decades was not lost on any Australian. As a community we rallied, as a people we responded and as a nation we rebuilt.

For many regional communities there is much to look forward to. Winter crops were large and the summer planting shows promise. Many local businesses have dared to rekindle some momentum.

Dams are full, rivers flowing and species not seen in a generation have returned to traditional breeding grounds.

All should be well... or, at least, returning to normality.

But people are filled with an unease, a brooding sense of foreboding and, sadly, for good reason. All is not well in Canberra.

The political year ended with Julia Gillard’s authority in tatters, her Cabinet split and the divide widening and Labor’s rank-and-file marginalised and ignored.

Add the Greens and a rag-tag bunch of Independents and Australia’s government is a direction-less, dysfunctional shambles, clearly out of touch with ordinary Australians.

At its national conference Labor completely forgot about struggling families and instead focussed inwards. In the fallout from the conference, the government continued to tear itself apart over gay marriage, uranium sales and escalating leadership tensions.

Julia Gillard’s newly sworn-in Cabinet is the biggest in our history and the most at-odds with itself.

The Prime Minister made way for those who put her into power, entrenched the deadwood she did not have the courage to jettison and exacted retribution against would-be Kevin Rudd supporters.

Even the very last day of the parliament was tumultuous, with slippery deals done in the dead of night.

It all makes fascinating drama for political onlookers.

But I am mindful of the mums and dads across the country worried about the things that actually matter in their lives. For them, four years under Labor have been a slog and they know it is about to get tougher.

The rising cost of living and job security top those concerns and families know they are paying for Labor’s incompetence and waste.

WARREN TRUSS

Leader

The Nationals

Canberra

Renmark looks great

THIS IS to Renmark’s landscape team.

I have spent the last year commenting on how much I admire the neat and tidy town lawns and gardens we have come to appreciate.

It’s Christmas and I just want to publicly say thank you, from one member of this great community for your consistent commitment in all weather.

PAM PHILLIPS

Renmark