Behind the files, beneath the air conditioner and beside the water cooler lurk the real news stories of the Public Service and PS News editor Frank Cassidy has had his nose in the air, back to the wall, shoulder to the wheel and ear to the ground to dig them out.
   So, fresh from his physiotherapist here’s what he’s found out:

PS-sssst...

Gone walkabout
Extraordinary warning from Victoria Police this week advising motorists to take the GPS directions to Mildura provided by Mr Apple’s iPhone, with a 70km wide grain of salt.
   That’s how far an iPhone running iOS 6 would miss Mildura’s city limits, plonking it instead in the middle of a not-even-close national park from which the Police have tired of rescuing stranded strangers.
   “There is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees,” the warning warned, pointing out the life threatening consequences of the blunder.
   Police say they’ve drawn the matter to the attention of Apple and hope something is done soon.
   If past experiences with big IT enterprises are anything to go by, it might be easier to just move Mildura than expect a sympathetic response. Good luck.

Flick of fancy
And just to show that even PS News contributors can’t escape the PS-sssst....! spotlight if they do something clever enough, one of our veteran film reviewer Vic Rebikoff’s ever popular pre-Christmas film reports has done just that.
   Filing a glowing review of the kids’ flick Rise of the Guardians, the venerable Vic explains its family-friendly plot as a “fantastic fantasy adventure” that sees every child’s heroes Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost and the Sandman team up to take on a ne’er-do-well evil-doer that poses perilous problems for the world’s powerless children.
   Summarising the film as one the whole family would enjoy, Vic had only one stinging criticism.
   “The storyline is somewhat fanciful……” he railed.
   Somewhat?
   Fanciful?
   Just a tad, Vic.

Spare a thought...
And as 2012 stumbles to a close after a year of painful and disruptive PS redundancies, restrictions, revisions, reforms and reverses, we in Australia might find comfort of sorts in the troublingly worrying future faced by our Cypriot counterparts and compatriots.
   According to the PS News international file, the loyal Public Servants of Cyprus are to be rewarded for their commitment by suffering 12.5% pay cuts this year, a wage freeze to 2016 and then half-indexation when the freeze thaws.
   No point retiring either. Tax hikes on lump sum payouts are also part of the mix.
   Happy days!

Leave form
And finally it’s that time of the year when PS News hangs up its pixels for a few weeks and heads off on rec leave for a well-earned and greatly anticipated rest.
   On behalf of all the people who bring PS News to you every week – Cameron, Lauren, Con, John, Lyn, Graham, Julia, Beck, Cate, Ted, Peter, Christine, Vic and Rama - I wish you, your family and friends, the very best for the season and for the New Year ahead.
   We’ll be back the week commencing 14 January 2013, and we hope you will be too, rested, rejuvenated, reinvigorated and ready for another year of commitment to our community and service to our society.
   A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

   Till next year...

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