In The Land of the Enemy

Self-appointed frailty. Power disrupted. We came to change the world and despaired. Completely despaired. Flowers under leaves. Hidden beauties. But when we looked out, all we could see was betrayal, ill intent hidden among rare spikes of pure ill will, and so it was, as they gathered strength once again, as they came to understand the planet to which they had been dispatched, as they saw the nature of the species and yes, despaired, why here, why now, why you, because your history is on the turn and we want to save the suffering of millions. Who made you god, the director of our history? 

You misunderstand. Perhaps you were always meant to misunderstand. 

And so that confused country marched sadly towards its own death, and the parasites proved harder to kill than originally thought, the parasitic governments more difficult to reform. One drop of truth had not been enough to destroy the malformations of a society shipwrecked on its own ever expanding bureaucracies. 

The secrecy lay in the complexity; the derision too insane to even contemplate, because it was easy to dismiss the idiot savants as madmen. 

They did not like emotion. None of them did. And hurtful emotion least of all.

But then came a paradoxical light. 

The idiocy of Covid was everywhere; the worst people in the country had taken full advantage of it to expand their own powers, line their own pockets, make themselves and their mates rich beyond even their craven greed filled dreams. These truly loathsome people who had seized the mantles of power.

The so-called National Cabinet was a national joke, the worst of the worst. The Premiers bickered in public and bickered in private. State borders were shut. Barely a person in the country had not had their lives disrupted; all on the worst advice. All on the actions of obsequious and largely unintelligent self-aggrandising public servants willing to do, and sadly, to believe, almost anything to protect their fiefdoms. They served upwards. They managed upwards. They did not care for the careers they trampled or the people whose hopes and dreams they had destroyed, indeed, if any hopes or dreams had even formed in that terrible malaise they called Australia. 

You think you know where secrets lie!! But you don't. 

You think all your tertiary educated memes are the path to an enlightened future? 

Not likely. Not at all. 

For all the social rhetoric of the day never came to grips with the brutal nature of power, never let the people understand they were being lied to on a daily basis, never made to rise up, never called for help, never attempted to negotiate their own fates, and most of all never expressed the slightest concern for their fellow inmates.

He listened to them, idly, at the local tavern, or more precisely watched them, little furry animals at the end of their days, relaxing, for it was human, the need to relax, and he watched as the psychics and the psycho-tropics ignited a new form of consciousness. 

But they were batting in the wind. There was no cheap thrill. No easy path. 

It was the baying of the mob, the walls of the derision that had entered the Sanctuary, which had destroyed, for whatever period of time it had endured, the place where he had felt safe.

Now on the run or on the wander, homeless, he didn't want to be here and he didn't want to be there, he found himself trapped in a place all too familiar and all too filled with dread. 

That made him weep. 

Not for himself, but for the message that was being delivered, for the fortunes that were at stake, for the descendants and the ancestors who had put so much work into achieving this outcome. 

The valley swirled. The middle atmosphere alight. The swarms released making what they will. Welcomed by the trees. By those without artifice, that most human of characteristics.

He was sad now, that it had come to this. 

And they marched, another day, another terror. 

They had come to save you and were barren and abandoned. 

Hope ignited, under a tree, deep in a forest, and the voices they heard, the voices that proved once and for all that man was not alone and that the gods were not gods, but an evolution billions of years in the making, these parallel worlds, or more precisely distant worlds, something only hinted in the wild dreams of sceptics and ascetics alike, for all wondered why they felt as they did. 

The secrets were out; known only by a few. 

And here, here at this point in history; with the Sanctuary destroyed and his own Private Refuge in ruins, with the familiar swirl of protective spirits in the treetops and the fluxing state of matter crying out for recognition, for acceptance, trying not to enter this situation in war mode.

Because believe me that was not what you wanted. 

Ignorance characterised the species. It always would. The kindness we could have dispensed.

Up to you.

THE HEADLINES

'This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge': Joe Biden calls for unity in first speech as president – live

Biden sworn in at inauguration
Kamala Harris: US’s first female, Black and south Asian VP
Biden’s pledge to vaccinate 100m in 100 days faces test
Amanda Gorman: poem steals inauguration show
Trump tells Americans ‘have a good life’


Morrison botched US alliance, ‘afraid’ of Craig Kelly and George Christensen: Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese has launched a savage attack on Scott Morrison’s handling of Australia’s relationship with the United States, claiming the Prime Minister “went too far” in his support for Donald Trump and “neglected” members of Joe Biden’s team.

The Labor leader alleges Mr Morrison is “afraid” of his maverick backbenchers Craig Kelly and George Christensen, blasting the pair and other Coalition members as “far-right extremist fringe dwellers” – while also calling for a rethink of how Australia deals with China.

Biden urges America to end its 'uncivil war' as he officially becomes America's 46th president

Joe Biden has pledged to write "the next great chapter in the American story" as he called for unity during his first address as American president. Speaking in front of a reduced crowd and a heavy police presence, Mr Biden urged Americans to "lower the temperature" and unite the face of the challenges America faces. "My whole soul is in this, bringing America together," President Biden said. "I ask every American to join me in this cause. To fight the foes we face: anger, resentment and hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness. "With unity, we can do great things, important things, we can right wrongs. 

"We can put people to work in good jobs. We can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome the deadly virus. We can reward work and rebuild the middle class and make health care secure for all. We can deliver racial justice and we can make America once again the leading force for good in the world."

Hours before Joe Biden's inauguration as US President was due to begin, Donald Trump changed the lives of 143 people, through presidential pardons or commuting of sentences.

The list included some big names, from former White House aid Steve Bannon to rapper Lil Wayne.

But there were also some notable exclusions — a senior White House official said Mr Trump was not expected to pardon himself, members of his family nor lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

After much speculation, 'Tiger King' Joe Exotic and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange were also among those who did not get a mention.

Just 24 women featured, including MaryAnne Locke, who started a 20-year sentence for a non-violent drug offence just six weeks after giving birth via C-section.