Plunder The Poor Give To The Rich: Australia
And then there were nine.
He exited the citadel of the forest church with one instruction: Take Direct Action. Immediate Action. You have your orders.
They were confused then, at the end of that odd flux that was 2020, the year Australia destroyed itself.
Well, the train wreck began and yet somehow the citizenry, protected from reality, still stared out the window as if nothing was going to happen. As if all the groundwork for their own transformation into gronks and graves, into subdued citizenry and limited design, nowhere to go and nothing to do, these superfluous men. As if the world still worked. As if they believed. As if the fantastical wasn't already upon us; and if the mundane confusion of those tired bewildered days would really recover into the Australia they thought they knew.
All rights abandoned.
Abandon hope ye who enter.
Take action, and in this case the action was words.
Already the city was a bell jar. They gazed and vaulted across conquered territory. They were already bifurcated and flying, ultimate power. They were already behind enemy lines; while the locals slept in their internal tediums. Rise up. Rise up. But instead we all raised a glass to celebrate the end of that year; and promised ourselves the next would be better.
Borders shut. International travel suspended. Liberties everywhere suspended, the right to protest, the arbitrary institution of martial law, the blizzard of confusing alterations and determinants, orders whcih made no sense.
How could anyone make sense of it, before becoming an arbitrary victim. The laser shift of targets. The depth of the targeting. The exculpation of all that was decent, the tiny integrities that had held them together, the known place and the known behaviours; all of this could be lost, all of this was being lost.
Where was God in the gas chambers, people would ask.
And would later ask about Australia. Where was God?
A pelican flew high over the southern coastline, looking for all, from his angle, like a baby pterodactyl. He could see the rivers that had made this place, as if time was irrevocable.
He would come to them in nighttime. And take out the spirits that had destroyed this place.
While in the suburban streets around children swarmed and the people were happy. And a government did what it had long failed to do: encourage people to live productive, instructive, fulfilling, industrious lives. Not to be slaves. Not to surrender.
To look back on this period of Australian history when democracy failed; and laugh. Will they never learn?
THE BIGGER STORY:
HEADLINES:
Northern beaches cluster grows as Premier urges shoppers to avoid Boxing Day sales in CBD.
NSW recorded nine new COVID-19 cases on Boxing Day after nearly 40,000 tests were carried out in the state on Christmas Day.
Due to ongoing concerns about the possible unidentified spread of COVID-19 on Sydney's northern beaches, the area will revert back to the pre-Christmas stay-at-home orders after Boxing Day until midnight on December 30.
Sydney shoppers have steered clear of Boxing Day sales after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian discouraged shoppers from going to the sales in a massive blow to the city's retailers.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard condemned revellers at Bronte on Christmas Day and expressed fears it had the potential to be a super-spreader event.
Worldwide, more than 79 million people have been infected with the coronavirus and more than 1.7 million people have died from it, according to Johns Hopkins University.
NSW records nine new cases with state to revert to pre-Christmas restrictions – latest updates
The premier said she understood that some suburban shopping centres were busier than anticipated: “If you are in the suburbs, please make sure you are wearing a mask when shopping indoors. If it is too crowded, turn around and go home.”
Superyacht sailors add two more patients to Queensland’s COVID tally.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard hits out at a "large gathering of people who didn't give a damn about the rest of Sydney" for heading to Bronte Beach on Christmas Day, saying he hopes it doesn't become a COVID-19 super-spreader event. Follow live.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced nine new cases and said Greater Sydney would revert back to restrictions pre-Christmas Eve, with minor changes to gatherings in the northern beaches.
Coronavirus, conspiracies and cries of election fraud marked 2020 as the year of the infodemic. But the worst may be yet to come
The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services has issued an explainer to clear up confusion around how the state could go so long without any new COVID-19 cases yet still be reporting the existence of active cases.
One group pondering the apparent contradiction on Facebook, the far-right Australian Liberty Alliance, went as far as to suggest that Victorians were being "lied to".LIVE UPDATES: Read our blog for the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic.
"How the hell is this even possible?," asked the group, which has more than 160,000 followers and was formed by members of the anti-Islam Q Society.
"Victoria has recorded ZERO new cases in 14 days, and the virus is only active for up to 14 days; so how are there still any active cases?"
According to the DHHS, an active case is cleared "once it is safe and there's no risk of transmission".
"Most cases isolate for 10 days. But some cases — such as people who are immunocompromised or still have symptoms — may need to stay in isolation for longer."