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"From the spirit of the 1960s....we have now come to the 'oppression in the head' of our contemporary totalitarianism - a Foucauldian self-fulfilling prophecy. What is not argued is that men are held to be incapable of transcending 'patriarchy', whilst the 'system' continues to be itself that of 'patriarchy'. So although it is their political duty to attempt this impossible feat, only when the agents of political change - non-men (all women plus non-white or non-heterosexual or non-able-bodied men) - have fulfilled their supposed revolutionary destiny, can men begin to live their lives in a non-'patriarchal' manner."
Steve Moxon.



In a darkness, in a quiet place. It was after he rescued the pigeon that he began hearing the voices. It had been struck in the street by a car and sought refuge behind his garbage bin. Rats with wings, the kids sneered when they stopped by from their busy lives at university. But he was determined to save it, and set it up in a fish tank at the back of the house. He bought bird seed from the corner shop and left it, along with a tray of water, in the tank. Obviously starving, it didn't take it long to begin pecking. And that was when he began to hear the voices.

There was so much to classify, to do. He could feel the intelligences which had been here thousands of years before. He thought it was a family of wallabies but couldn't be sure; surprised by the complexity of their thoughts; the tragedy that they were no longer there. He estimated 14,000 years, he had no idea why. The bird looked at him. He wasn't sure whether it was gratitude or reproach; but for some reason having an animal in the house seemed to open up the lines to other times and other places. He could feel it so strong. He wanted to be saved, to seek redemption. Back then it was nothing but a struggle for survival; the old war horse protecting his young. Or in this case the old creature, a pre-cursor to the kangaroo. Astonishing these spirits could have survived so long; here in what had once been a densely wooded ridge, with ready water and glades for protection.

Even if this was only the beginning, even if the voices of the ancient bush family was difficult to hear, requiring special skills, he knew he had to embark on a new and dangerous journey to the core. Everything had gone swimmingly since he escaped from the hospital. The half-formed thoughts that rose and fell in his head, grappling, just like with the bush family, with ideas and concepts just out of reach, had to be moved beyond. There was a new path. There was a way to beat what the bastards had done. Chameleon like, with quiet resource, he went about his daily duties; regurgitating the same press releases he had regurgitated for years. He tried as best he could not to draw any attention to himself. He told no one what was really going on inside his head. He wore dull, unobtrusive clothes.

He arrived on time and he left on time. He told no one, except Julie and the kids, about the ancient bush family. The kids, impressed by the rationality of their university courses, thought their old man was losing it, for good this time. Julie, used to his eccentricities, said nothing. The injured bird, pooping up the fish tank in the back room, grew stronger by the day but clearly didn't trust him. He didn't trust himself, he had to define the task. We're going in, voices cried, but the mechanics of that act he could not uncover. In a patient way, he crawled his fingers across the keyboard, yet another removal from reality; but also a key.

We have to define the task, he said to Julie that night.
She looked up startled and put her fingers to her lips, indicating he should be silent.
Is this your idea of greatness? she asked, gesturing at the television set in the corner of the room, the stream of images he barely paid any attention to at all anymore.
He couldn't be sure, but it looked like a documentary on Alexander The Great.
Taking the hint, he responded. Well, he did cover a lot of territory, conquered a lot of countries.
Is that really an achievement?
In contrast to what we face, he heard the thought emerge as she warned him.
Be careful, she was warning him. They're still distracted, they're still having trouble working out what to do, what happened, but it wouldn't take much to make them suspicious of us. They probably already are.
She led him into the backyard. Through the back room window he could see the pigeon scrabbling in the old fish tank, disturbed by their movement. That bird spent a lot of time alone. He would have to release it soon.
You need to disguise everything, the implants monitor everything. Any plans have to disappear within the white noise, so they won't detect it. Everything is so overwhelming, that program was so profound, so beautiful, she said, as if to demonstrate the point. Nothing can remain coherent for long. There's too few of us to mount a frontal assault.
He raised his eyebrows.
Yes, there's others, she smiled briefly. How much he loved her. We can't bring the counter-network on line until we're sure of our forces. Then we go in. You, as the first of the elites, have special status. Although they keep wiping you, they probably trust you more than anyone else. They think there's nothing left of you; that you're operating entirely on routine, momentum. Gray job, gray day, gray life.
They're almost right, he said, smiling timidly.
Not yet, she said, squeezing his hand. Be patient. Go about your day as if nothing is wrong. Pretend you're just a normal person, you like your job, you're happy most of the time. You don't care about anything but your own circumstance.
Gray job, gray day, gray life. He donned a tie and prepared to face the biggest con of all.



http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNmhd7ca9cEs&refer=home

May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Russia, Japan and Taiwan joined China's rescue operation as troops poured into Sichuan province to free as many as 30,000 people trapped in collapsed buildings after the nation's most powerful earthquake in 58 years.

The death toll from the May 12 quake may reach 50,000 with more than 100,000 injured, state-run Xinhua reported. The government deployed more than 130,000 soldiers and relief workers and 110 helicopters to find people still buried and injured, and rescuers have reached all 58 stricken counties and towns in the mountainous western province.

``We will never give up hope looking for survivors,'' Gao Qiang, China's vice minister of health, told a news conference in Beijing yesterday. The quake was ``the most serious natural disaster'' since New China was founded in 1949, he said.

The relief operation, one the biggest China has mounted, may escalate as officials check reservoirs and hydro-electric stations near the epicenter to prevent secondary disasters as flood season approaches. As many as 391 hydro-dams are in ``dangerous condition,'' the government said.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake damaged 728 PetroChina Co. gasoline stations in the region, and 78 stopped operating, Xinhua said yesterday, citing Jiang Jiemin, chairman of the nation's largest oil company. Production at a natural gas well with a capacity of 6 million cubic meters per day was halted, though it is now producing 2 million cubic meters per day, Xinhua said.


http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23706162-2862,00.html

BRENDAN Nelson has staked his leadership on a bid to cut fuel excise to ease cost-of-living pressures and fight inflation.

In a show of strength, Dr Nelson used his Budget reply speech last night to declare that he was prepared to use Coalition numbers in the Senate to block the Government's new tax on pre-mixed alcohol drinks.

He described the 70 per cent tax hike on "alcopops" as a tax binge, which would have little effect on curbing teenage drinking.

Blocking the "alcopops" tax increase would put a $3 billion hole in the Rudd Government's Budget.

The Opposition would also oppose Budget measures to ease the Medicare surcharge, arguing that it would encourage people to drop private health cover.

Dr Nelson received his biggest cheer when he declared: "Watching petrol prices does not bring them down.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDKOrlN9xslqDXs0kWSChi-L36Tg

WASHINGTON (AFP) — White House front-runner Barack Obama gained the backing of four more Democratic leaders Thursday to take him closer to shutting Hillary Clinton out of the race to the party's nomination.

A day after former vice presidential nominee John Edwards endorsed the Illinois senator, three members of Congress and the head of the Communications Workers of America union rallied to Obama's camp.

All four are Democratic "superdelegates" who can cast their convention vote for the presidential nominee of their choice.

The most prominent was California Congressman Henry Waxman, who as chairman of the House of Representatives oversight committee has waged war on alleged wrongdoing in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Both Waxman and another of the quartet, Congressman Howard Berman, are leaders in the US Jewish community, and their support could help Obama fend off questions about the level of his commitment to Israel's security.

"Senator Obama's vision for change has inspired tens of millions of Americans. And he's also proved that he has the experience, judgment, integrity and toughness to bring real reform to Washington," Waxman said in a statement.

"He will be an extraordinary president, and I look forward to working with him to make his vision for change the new reality in Washington," he said.

According to RealClearPolitics.com, Obama now has the support of 1,889 Democratic convention delegates to Clinton's 1,719, considerably closer to the winning line of 2,025.