SURVEILLANCE EQUALS HARASSMENT
"Do you think he can detect that we're here?" a voice asked in the Outback night, and he repeated the line.
Monumental stuff up.
His pursuit, the pursuit of a journalist, by government authorities had reached absurd lengths, and so he was here, in this distant place. He had exemptd himself from the game, their game.
There was no reason for them to stop, it was government funding.
There was no reason to apologise, that would involve acknowledging fault.
There was no cause for common decency, they didn't have it in them.
They destroyed lives with impunity; that's what they did.
Those paying taxes to fund the outlandish behaviour of the agencies had no idea what their money was being used for.
Psychologically exhausted from the last book, Old Alex went home early to watch the American election on television, a million miles from the wealth and power on display in New York City. It had been one of the world's longest running soap operas, and a reality TV star had gamed them across the finishing line.
All the pundits had been proven wrong; and Trump was triumphant.
It had been one of the worst examples of pack mentality Alex had ever seen. All anyone had to do to prove they were an intellectual and a progressive was to call Trump a moron and away the hordes went, Like Like Like.
And in the morning after, they would blame everybody but themselves.
The same dynamics were in play in Australia.
The quelling of debate, ceaseless identity and gender politics, the ridicule and in his case hunting of anyone who didn't swallow the government narrative, all of it was coming back to destroy the very governments, bureaucracies and multi-media channels which perpetuated it.
He came, he saw, he observed.
They would try to kill him one more time.
THE BIGGER STORY:
Democrat Hillary Clinton has conceded the 2016 US White House race to Republican Donald Trump, offering to work with the president-elect who she said she hoped would be a successful leader for all Americans.
Mrs Clinton, appearing at midday (local time) after a bruising election loss to the New York real estate magnate, urged supporters to keep an open mind towards Mr Trump and give him a chance to lead.
"Last night I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country," Mrs Clinton told hundreds of supporters and staff at a Manhattan hotel.
"I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans.
"This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for, and I'm sorry that we did not win this election for the values we shared and the vision we hold for our country."
The artist is likely to be looked upon with some uneasiness by the more conservative members of society. He seems a little unpredictable. Who knows but that he may arrive for dinner in a red shirt… appear unexpectedly bearded… offer, freely, unsolicited advice… or even ship off one of his ears to some unwilling recipient? However glorious the history of art, the history of artists is quite a different matter. And in any well-ordered household the very thought that one of the young men may turn out to be an artist can be a cause for general alarm. It may be a point of great pride to have a Van Gogh on the living room wall, but the prospect of having Van Gogh himself in the living room would put a good many devoted art lovers to rout.
FEATURED BOOK:
