Solutions

There were times when he knew there were no solutions, when the clear skin of the harbour surprised him, the salt air and the surprising drama; when so much of his life was spent in the thick of the inner-city, the collapsed hope that surrounded Central Station where he worked, the dregs of former accomplishment that cluttered the suburb of Redfern where he lived. Yandi, yandi? a local aboriginal man asked as I walked past, making a smoking gesture. What? I asked, then realising, said no. Spare change, mister, they kept asking, and no I would reply sternly, as if my rejection was going to make the slightest difference.

But none of this was here, outside the Sydney Theatre Company on the famous finger wharves that stretched out into the habour, which provided a middle class comfort which didn't exist around where we dwelt. There were times of confusion and loss, but also, surprisingly, times of hope. This is my daughter Henrietta, dressed neat as a pin, excited at doing acting classes at the Australian Theatre for Young People. The setting could hardly be better, away from all the dingy turmoil that had once seeped into our souls but was now recast. Almost everyone I dealt with was younger than me now. Once I had always been the youngest in whatever scenario I found myself in, exploiting my youth blatantly.

But it's hard to exploit your age. Foibles which once seemed so fascinating, the struggle with my parents, leaving home early, very early, the private investigator that had followed me when I didn't come home on the weekends, leaving at the first opportunity. The psychic strength, hearing people's thoughts as clear as a bell, being able to move things merely by thinking, knowing that destiny was unique and God was close. None of these dramas afflicted my own children, who despite the difficulties of their parents had grown up to be decent, well centred kids, determined to make something of their lives; appreciating the sophistication of city life; aware, surprisingly, how much opportunity they had in contrast to country kids. I was astonished, I guess, by their decency; the complexity of young adults when not so long ago they had just been children.

Our days passed, and with them the fresh hopes of lives and careers and loves; all looking forward not back. I'm 54. I look forward with horror, no matter how much people say their older years were the happiest of their lives. I never wanted to be old, I never expected to live past 30, and in these remnant outposts they call the future, I'm surprised by their canny intelligence, their level of perception, the strong clear optimism they bring; while I wonder why I can't just be happy. So many people are dying, Billy Thorpe, friends of friends, people in the news, their obituaries recording achievements, many not much older than me, their lives already lived; while band after band of the young prepare to take the world that was once ours. There was a story today on research which suggested the McDonald's Supersize Me film exaggerated the impacts of a fast-food diet and we were instructed to find some cute young woman. We found her, 21, and she couldn't have been more co-operative, eyes wide open as if in a modelling stint, the cross bouncing between her breasts, attracting the eyes of every man. And more, what's more, the thing that always startled me the most about these people, she wasn't just a stunner, she seemed like a really nice person. Job done. I hope they don't know what goes on in our minds, I said to the driver as we clambered back into the car, rushing to finish our shifts. They probably do, he said and I sighed. Let's go.

THE BIGGEST STORY:

Howad has betrayed many of his own constituents; and that's what will lose him the next election in the end. Separated dads would have virtually died in the ditch when in 2000 he suggested he understood their pain. Millions of dollars on useless bureaucratic inquiries later, they have been entirely double crossed, with little or no reform to the Family Court. The Child Support Agency remains a brutal bureaucratic mess. He could have had a million separated parents out their campaigning for him. Serves him right they've seen the light. For those who thought he was anti high levels of immigration, the immigration rates have gone up. He doesn't care about social dislocation, as long as his business mates can sell more cornflakes. For those who thought he was anti big government, he has inflated the public service and spread welfare into the middle classes, so that now more than 90% of Australian families have a relationship with Centrelink. For small business people, he saddled them with the GST and reams of paperwork. People want their conservatives to be conservative, not clever little dicks playing both sides of the fence. Their panicked, peurile attacks on Kevin Rudd are backfiring, making them look nasty and shallow. People want their politicians to run the country, not smear campaigns against each other. But that's what we've got. There is a strong mood for change in this country, and Howard's days now look very numbered indeed.

Rudd's Labor sweeps ahead
Staff reporters and wires
KEVIN Rudd's Labor would sweep to power with a record 57 per cent two-party preferred support in an election held now, the latest Newspoll survey says.
But Mr Rudd's personal rating as preferred prime minister appears to have peaked, with support wavering slightly from 47 per cent a fortnight ago to 45 per cent. But it is still higher than the 38 per cent support for John Howard as PM in the poll taken at the weekend when the Brian Burke affair dominated headlines. The poll reveals support for Labor is the highest it has been since 1993, despite scandal dragging Rudd back down to earth. The coalition has slipped three points to 43 per cent. The poll was taken on March 2-4 at the height of the government's personal attacks on Mr Rudd over his meetings with disgraced former West Australian premier Brian Burke. Labor's primary vote is the highest it has been since 2001, nudging up one point to 47 per cent, while the coalition's primary vote has slumped four points to 37 per cent.


And:
How disgraceful is this?

Op-Ed Contributor, New York Times
Casualties of the Budget Wars

By PAUL D. EATON
Published: March 6, 2007
Fox Island, Wash.
IN his 1997 book “Dereliction of Duty,” Col. H. R. McMaster wrote that “the ‘five silent men’ on the Joint Chiefs made possible the way the United States went to war in Vietnam.” So it is today with the war in Iraq. Regrettably, the silence of our top officers has had a huge impact not just on the battlefield but also on how we have brought our injured warriors home from it. These planning failures led to the situation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center recently reported by The Washington Post, which resulted in the firings of the hospital’s commander and the secretary of the Army.
The sad truth is that The Post’s reports weren’t entirely new: Mark Benjamin, of United Press International and the Web magazine Salon, and Steve Robinson, the director of veterans affairs at Veterans for America, have been reporting on the disgraceful treatment of our war wounded since 2003. More important, the Walter Reed scandal is simply the tip of the iceberg: President Bush, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Congress all pointedly failed to provide the money and resources for our returned troops wherever they are, both the obviously wounded and those who may seem healthy but are suffering mentally and physically from their service.
Soldiers have long joked: “If you are really sick or injured, Army medical care is O.K. But if you are hurting only a little, especially if it isn’t visible, you’re in big trouble.” The American soldier still receives the best trauma care in the world, especially at Walter Reed. The problem there has been with deplorable outpatient care management. The military health system is seriously undermanned and underfinanced for the number of casualties coming home. Also, there has been little preparation for identifying and treating post-traumatic stress injuries.
Last year, because of spending in Iraq, the Army had a $530 million shortfall in its budget for posts at home and abroad. This forced the Army’s vice chief of staff, Richard Cody, to tighten belts that were already at the last notch.
Hospitals have taken a big part of the financial hit. General Cody has warned Congress that failure to shore up the tottering military health care system could become a “retention issue.” David Chu, the Pentagon’s under secretary for personnel and readiness, told The Wall Street Journal that veterans’ costs “are taking away from the nation’s ability to defend itself.”