"The complete jettisoning of 'the workers' from any consideration within the 'progressive project' left a vacuum where previously ordinary people had been thought of as victims 'of the system'. The vacuum came to be filled with easily identified subgroups in the wake of the American civil rights movement...starting with blacks and other ethnic minorities. Then the focus shifted decisively to women. Because women were half or more of the population, then the 'progressive project' thereby restored to majority status the "oppressed'.
Steve Moxon.
It was always a heart beat away, the fractured call. He was going back in. Nothing could stop him. He would grapple with the giants, David versus Goliath, and this time round he was going to win. He couldn't understand why they regarded him as cured considering the state of his thoughts, but the low level of security gave the clear impression he was no longer the object of attention. I'll meet you on the outside, she said, at one their final meeting before she disappeared. I'll get the house organised. He raised his eyebrows. She smiled an almost private smile and laughed at him. I'm an organised person, she said.
He stayed for several days after she left. There didn't seem to be any rush. He was comfortable and growing stronger by the day. His thoughts darted everywhere but he was careful not to upset anyone with spurious inquiries. Wherever home was that was where he felt the most nostalgic, and for a moment he clung to the puffy white pillows, the clean sheets, the hospital smells; all of it became like home. No nurses became friendly. No doctors even seemed to notice he existed. Finally, one day, he did what he knew he had done before; and simply walked out the back door.
He walked across the lawn; that vacant space, and entered the dark pines. The crushed smell of pine as he walked on the dead carpet of leaves convinced him it was real, he thought of the woman, Julie, he could see the sky through the pine trees, although little direct light made it to the ground. He kept on walking back into his old life; first at a bus stop, a long drive back to the city. Previously he had been nervous, uncertain what was happening. Now all he felt was deja vu. Everything was as it had been before.
He returned to his small terrace house in the inner-city; the fact that he had his own home befitting his status as one of the country's first professional elites; and what was less better known, an elite, one of the first to be implanted and then augmented. Although he couldn't specifically feel someone watching, physically or electronically, he was not naive. The key turned in the lock and his heart turned in his chest. What? You wanted to be a novelist? She laughed. You? He turned the key and entered his own life, his old life. Except for one thing. She was slap bang in the middle of it. As he entered, she was standing up in the lounge room, and looked at him apprehensively for one second before embracing him affectionately.
What happened to Kathyrn, he asked one day.
You needn't worry, I'm sure she was well contemplated, I mean compensated, Julie said. And they both laughed.
The exercise was so profoundly disconcerting, at times he still didn't believe it. They never discussed their mission. They resumed a married life as if they had always been together. He went back to work, and apart from a few "nice to see you back" comments no one even seemed to have noticed he had gone. Everything was uncannily the same. He returned to his old job of rewriting government press releases. Whoever produced them hadn't become any better writers since he had been gone, and there was plenty for him to do. The silence settled. He kept his thoughts to himself. For a while, he could almost believe there was nothing wrong at all; the new world wasn't so bad. There wasn't any point bucking the system, he found himself thinking. It got you nowhere. These were the thoughts he tried to think the loudest, so they wouldn't suspect the truth: he would never believe. There was no way in the world you could trust something, or was it someone, like them.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBr_dOzJ9Pnc_U9gSgtTgE-cR-KwD90K8VFG0
CHONGQING, China (AP) — One of the worst earthquakes in decades struck central China on Monday, killing nearly 9,000 people, trapping about 900 students under the rubble of their school and causing a toxic chemical leak, state media reported.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated a hilly region of small cities and towns. The official Xinhua News Agency said 8,533 people died in Sichuan province and more than 200 others were killed in three other provinces and the mega-city of Chongqing.
Xinhua said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Sichuan province's Beichuan county after the quake, raising fears the overall death toll could increase sharply.
State media said a chemical plant in Shifang city had cratered, burying hundreds of people and spilling more than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia from the site.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/13/2242636.htm
After six months of finding savings and making cuts, Treasurer Wayne Swan will tonight hand down the Rudd Government's first Budget.
Mr Swan says he has made more than 600 cuts and expects to be left with a surplus of around $17 billion as an inflation buffer.
But $31 billion in tax cuts from July might break through the buffer and renew pressure on interest rates.
The Federal Opposition has paved the way to attack if the spending cuts throw the economy into a slowdown and costs jobs.
Mr Swan has axed some programs, trimmed spending on others, and introduced a range of means tests on welfare payments in a bid to bring interest rates down.
He says he has tried to insulate working families from his cuts by imposing the means testing on high income earners, but the Opposition calls that the politics of envy.
http://voanews.com/english/2008-05-12-voa33.cfm
Democratic Party presidential contender Hillary Clinton shows no signs of abandoning her bid for the White House, even though most political experts believe rival Barack Obama is now clearly on track to become the party's presidential nominee. Exactly how the long and bitter Democratic presidential battle is resolved is an issue of concern for many Democrats, as we hear from VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone in Washington.
Senator Hillary Clinton speaks during her 'Solutions for America' tour, 11 May 2008
Senator Hillary Clinton speaks during her 'Solutions for America' tour, 11 May 2008
As she campaigns in the final three weeks of primaries Hillary Clinton has made it clear she is not giving up, despite Barack Obama's lead in the all important delegate count.
"I guess my favorite message was from a woman named Angela," Clinton said. "Keep strong, she said, it is not over until the lady in the pantsuit says it is."
Clinton believes strong showings in several of the six remaining primaries will keep her in contention, even though more Democratic superdelegates are announcing their support for Obama than Clinton.
Superdelegates are Democratic officeholders and party activists free to support either of the contenders at the national nominating convention in Denver in late August.
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