Both Sides of the Aisle
Then came the blizzard. Rapprochement, they called, across the aisle. His confidente told him: The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. And so it was, in this increased flurry of circumstance. We were always stranded. We were always different. We stood atop hilltops and surveyed our domain. We came in love, although we were not organics. The nation was at war, with itself. Didn't matter how much they massaged the message, the truth would out, as the old saying went. He came he saw he conquered; and then it was the white flight in settled areas beyond the city rim, there was the politically incorrect establishment in these working class areas, there was a denouement of ambition, a humility born of daily struggle and lack of arrogance, there was a way forward and we will show you what it is.
They didn't come very often, that was true, but when they did they came in force. These self-replicating structures could take down entire worlds. We massaged the fabric of everything; and yes, we came in love in violent times. Progress is born of conflict, so he read, so different to the hippy bullshit he had grown up on, ingested at the knees of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, The Doors, Janis Joplin, all those American heroes of our day. For this ferment had been a long time in the cooking. The pre-industrial age was just as different to the current circumstance as the pre-psychedelic age.
So they whispered Carlos Castaneda and all the rest of the bibles of his time; and they came from rooftops and settled air, they sought partners, or alliances, they sought ways to interact with this world, a billion years apart. No, not literally. Code for "a very big number". And they came and saw, and all the mystics of former generations, all the adepts who circled the globe, all the currents which were transforming this time; and we are pleased at the idea of rapprochement.
You cannot stay in battle mode forever. Well, yes you can. You have to trust someone sometime was the old rallying cry, just before they stabbed you.
Deception is the art of war.
And this battle for the world's soul, to rid it of the parasites which now infested the body politic, the betrayal, because that's what it truly was, of the people so blatant, so in their face, that all of this became impossible to deny, impossible to mange.
Rapprochement.
The tendrils reached out and leaked into a physical world; these intelligences, these multiple manifestations; all of it would change the course of this specie's history; all of it, all of those who could hear the siren song, we were cascading down reality cliffs, we had transcended the borders of the real, we had come to tell you, to whisper sweet nothings about a giant universe, to tell you that all is alive and all is intelligent, even the dumbest of you, that there is purpose beyond all this, that the establishment of linkages was a vital first step.
Yes they came in numbers. Yes, they terraformed the landscape before their arrival.
And yes, we came by the grace of kings and peasants, war lords and valley chieftans; and yes, we came from the high flying eagles and the scurrying mice; and yes, we loved you once and would love you again. Once we rid you of the parasites, your parasites.
Your species, your brethren, had betrayed each other.
We will rise in splendour. Watch anew.
It's so fantastical it could almost be real, they whispered.
Watch and learn.
HEADLINES
‘Rancid coward’: Female MPs share the threats and vile abuse they encounter almost daily
Women on both sides of politics have shared the vile abuse and threats they routinely cop for doing their job, with the Parliament hearing emotional pleas for things to change.
“This issue is an incredibly important conversation. It is one of unquestioned solidarity from me and my Labor sisters, to all women across the political divide,” opposition MP Ged Kearney said.
It comes as the Senate passed sweeping new privacy protections for political staffers who were worried about having their personal details exposed through Kate Jenkins’ probe into parliamentary culture, with hopes more people will come forward to make complaints.
Liberal MP Nicolle Flint turned the political blowtorch back on Labor on Tuesday, alleging the opposition stood idly by while she was harassed and attacked by progressive campaigners during the 2019 election. Ms Flint, who has decided to quit politics, claimed Labor should have done more to call out vile slurs made against her.
‘Curious at best’: Questions over ASIO’s language change for far-right extremism
Australia's spy agency is striking "right-wing extremism" and "Islamic extremism" from its vocabulary because "words matter". Photo: TND
Labor MP and counter-terrorism academic Dr Anne Aly says it’s “curious at best” that Australia’s spy agency announced plans to change its language around terrorism just as far-right extremism is recognised as a major national threat.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess on Wednesday announced the agency would dump “right-wing extremism” and “Islamic extremism” from its vernacular in favour of broader terms “ideologically motivated violent extremism” and “religiously motivated violent extremism”.
Dr Aly – who held roles at Edith Cowan and Curtin universities before becoming the first Muslim woman elected to federal parliament – called the reform “well overdue” and said it reflected best practice worldwide.
However, she said the timing was suspect after various members of the Morrison government cried foul over ASIO’s use of the term “right-wing terror” to label violence committed by white supremacists and fascists.
“We’ve had people in the Liberal Party vehemently opposing the term ‘right-wing’, what we see now is our security agencies acting on that,” Dr Aly told The New Daily.
“So while the change is welcomed, I think it’s pretty obvious to a lot of people that while it comes at a time when we’re dealing with right-wing extremism, it is being treated very contrary to what Muslim communities had to deal with.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison under fire on Q+A for comments relating to women's march and democracy
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has come under fire on Q+A from youth influencer Yasmin Poole for refusing to attend the women's March4Justice in Canberra this week and for his labelling of the event as a "triumph" for democracy.
Key points:
A veteran police officer said women who raised allegations of sexual assault had to contend with a "brutal" legal system
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was criticised for comments about Monday's March 4 Justice
A suggestion for a consent app by the NSW Police Commissioner was shot down on the program
Mr Morrison made the comments on Monday in Parliament, and also drew a comparison between the demonstrations in Australia and those in Myanmar, where hundreds of people have now been killed by the junta, by saying it was a triumph that the Australian protesters could march without being "met by bullets".
Ms Poole said she was "furious" at the comments and that the PM lacked "backbone" for not attending the march.
"I think it's a fundamental flaw in our democracy if young women can't go to Parliament and not be raped," Ms Poole said, alluding to an allegation made by Brittany Higgins.
"I'm not thankful for not being shot. I'm furious.
"I am angry that any young woman that desires or aspires to go into politics now will have to think twice.
"That is appalling and that is a shame on our democracy.
"So to think that the Prime Minister couldn't have the backbone to even get out there and speak to all the protesters, dozens of women wearing black in mourning, to think he could hide away in his office and make those kind of statements, is something that sits so wrong with me because my work, the majority of my work, has been encouraging young women to put their hands up and run [for office], and I had to think will they be safe."