Conquered

The Fractured Cloud


The fractured cloud struggles just to breathe. Tortured and tormented by the stresses of life, she is teetering on the brink of sanity. She started her existence normal enough: calm, collected, and clear-minded, but recently something changed. It started off small. A stream of small problems and challenges not unlike those she had faced earlier in life, but this stream never stopped. She tried to get through solely on her own steam, too proud to ask for help. This was probably her undoing. In time, this stream of problems turned into a web. Trapping, and immobilizing her to the point where she was no longer even able to partially slow the flow of problems. Now she sits, helpless, gathering all of her might to unleash in one final burst of strength. How this will affect her situation, and what effects it may have on her psyche is not quite clear, but at this point one thing is quite clear: no matter what the consequences, this is her only remaining hope.


http://theweeklycloud.blogspot.com/2007/11/fractured-cloud-struggles-just-to.html


The country has changed already; almost overnight; and the sweet chaos to which we had all beckoned, it was gone. A smooth incumbent. The parties in chaos. The building kept burning in his imagination; as if it would never stop; the sequence of yesterday's events playing through his head. There were other reporters involved now; police, social affairs, legal affairs. The stream of consequence moved forward like a great procession; and he had nothing to say for himself.

He waited until there was a gap in the authoritarian rule of his boss and made his own way back up to the scene of yesterday's events. Police tape still surrounded the building, which was still closed to staff and the public. Traffic diversions were still in place. A small crowd of onlookers had gathered to gape at the damaged building; the misshapen penthouse on top of the stolid, expensive government architecture.

He recognised a couple of faces in the crowd; not just other reporters gathering atmosphere or seeing for themselves; but faces he had seen in meetings long long ago. Had they, too, just come to see for themselves? Or was it more? The changing nature of everything; the overthrow of the mundane; the increasing expansions of their brains. The meetings were coming up in his head now; as if from a retrieval system; and he could see the impassioned talks in the town halls. Before the implants came. They were trying to argue it was wrong; that we as a race would never be the same. Those who were protesting in a stream of impassioned words were painted in the media and therefore in the public mind as reactionaries, alarmists, old fashioned and ridiculous. Who wouldn't want a better brain?

Already he could see his phone going off again. That woman never rested.

THE BIGGER STORY:

ABC:


Outgoing prime minister John Howard has arrived back at Parliament House for the first time since his election loss, to clean out his office and make way for his replacement Kevin Rudd.

Mr Rudd may not officially take over until early next week and says he hopes to have his new Cabinet finalised by Thursday and sworn in by next Monday.

In another of Mr Rudd's priorities, the Labor leader says any apology to Indigenous Australians will only be made after adequate consultation with Aboriginal communities.



Bernama
Howard was bushwhacked
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 15 hours ago
Kevin Rudd has fractured the electoral coalition that kept John Howard in power for more than a decade by winning over voters from the provincial and rural ...
Kevin Rudd pushes Work Choices, Kyoto mandates NEWS.com.au
Howard's official website suspended Hindu
Howard’s end leaves poorer legacy National Business Review
RTT News - Telegraph.co.uk
all 2,293 news articles »

Sydney Morning Herald
Libs turn on Howard: let's dump Work Choices
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 13 hours ago
"No Liberal candidate could look in the mirror and say the leadership of John Howard was not the central factor on Saturday," Mr Pyne said. ...
Keating says Bishop should lead Libs The Age
Three to contest Liberal leadership The Age
Rivals left to slug it out among themselves Sydney Morning Herald
NEWS.com.au - The Age
all 275 news articles »

Canoe.ca (subscription)
Howard cleans out office as Rudd looks ahead
ABC Online, Australia - 2 hours ago
Outgoing prime minister John Howard has arrived back at Parliament House for the first time since his election loss, to clean out his office and make way ...
Australia's PM-elect to say sorry to Aborigines Reuters South Africa
Rudd Will Apologize to Aborigines The Associated Press
New PM Kevin Rudd to apologise to Aborigines Telegraph.co.uk
BBC News - Melbourne Herald Sun
all 118 news articles »

Canada.com
mckew Set to Win Howard's Seat, First Leader to Lose Since 1929
Bloomberg - 25 Nov 2007
26 (Bloomberg) -- Maxine mckew, a former journalist, is set to topple John Howard from his Sydney seat, making him the first Australian Prime Minister to be ...
Howard's End CounterPunch
Easy life on pension for John Howard Melbourne Herald Sun
pm's people didn't think we had it in us: mckew Sydney Morning Herald
Reuters UK - Melbourne Herald Sun
all 449 news articles »

Sky News Australia
Howard told to quit a year ago
The Age, Australia - 15 hours ago
SENIOR Liberal strategist and former minister Nick Minchin strongly advocated a leadership change more than a year before the poll, telling John Howard he ...
Pasquarelli: Howard held hostage by Bennelong's ethnic make up Crikey (subscription)
Liberal senators round on Howard Sydney Morning Herald
Defeat can be a new dawn for the Liberals Sydney Morning Herald
ABC Online - ABC Online
all 95 news articles »

Sydney Morning Herald
Knives come out for final act
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - 11 hours ago
By Greg Ansley The battle to succeed John Howard as leader of the Liberals has already begun. Photo / Getty Images As Labor Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd ...
Downer out as senior Libs jockey Melbourne Herald Sun
With new Labor in place, can new Liberalism be far behind? The Age
Libs more harmonious than ever: Hockey Melbourne Herald Sun
Melbourne Herald Sun - The Age
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