THE PLACES FLED VII

He could feel them, the lice in the wall; so it was that they came full circle, to the places they had fled. There wasn't room for regret, or so he would have liked to think. Other pictures, other stories, curled in a ceaseless loop. He could have been shadowed; but there was no need. Time took its own toll. In an advanced state of whimsy. He went to the site of the old hospital where he was born, in the North Coast village of Bangalow. It had been demolished some 20 years before, replaced by an Area Health Service. The car park, perhaps, was where it took place. He said a thank you for his life and moved on; although some days were wretched still. In the frigid heat, in the established routines of other people's lives. He was still just passing through, wherever he was. These days you could spend $10 on a pie and a milkshake in Bangalow.

Except for here, now with good coffee, a range of services and ever rising real estate prices, the dead hand of socialism, or whatever it was, had hoovered every last cent off the populace and cast them back a decade. For k after k on the Pacific Highway from Sydney, there were no new shops, hotels, businesses. Petrol stations were increasingly far apart. Nobody had spent any money on their houses. For Sale signs were everywhere.

The only industry expanding was red light cameras, speed cameras, school zone cameras, average speed cameras; crewsing cops. Itinerants were lucky to survive any sort of misidentificatoin. They were curling between the reaches; the wowsers had won. Closing Time is 12 o'clock ran the campaign in Bryon Bay, supposedly an international destination. Alcohol fueled violence they parrotted; as if noone should dare do anything.  The Death of Fun, as the old headline had gone. There was almost no visible black money running through the economy; over-regulation had seen to that. But without it was gone the cream; money churning through the place, immediately spent. Now nobody was spending anything. And nothing was more difficult than being legitimate.

There was a new Prime Minister on the throne.

"It's important to be modest," Tony Abbott said.

And the world turned on its axis, and the so-called unelectable was convincingly elected.

THE BIGGER STORY:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/22/world/africa/kenya-mall-attack/

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- Authorities in Kenya appeared close to ending a deadly siege early Monday at an upscale Nairobi mall, where attackers have killed at least 68 people, injured 175, and were believed to be holding about 30 people hostage.

"All efforts are underway to bring this matter to a speedy conclusion," the Kenyan military announced on Twitter.

It said that "most of the hostages have been rescued and security forces have taken control of most parts of the building."

Earlier, police had tweeted that a "MAJOR assault" by security forces was ongoing.

The developments come two days after Al-Shabaab militants first stormed the shopping center, spraying bullets and unleashing chaos.

There are believed to be between 10-15 gunmen involved in the attack, according to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Sources within Al-Shabaab told CNN that nine names listed on a Twitter site -- now suspended -- were people who were among the alleged hostage-takers.

Three of the alleged attackers are from the United States, two are from Somalia and there is one each from Canada, Finland, Kenya and the United Kingdom, according to the list.

Kenyatta vowed Sunday to hold those responsible for the violence, accountable.

The tragedy is personal for the president; one of his nephews and his fiancee were among the dead.

"They shall not get away with their despicable, beastly acts. Like the cowardly perpetrators now cornered in the building, we will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully," Kenyatta said.

'Bunch of cowards'

Sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout the day Sunday, and at least one explosion. Those sounds were followed by periods of tense silence.

Soldiers kept vigil outside the mall, guns dangling from their shoulders. Helicopters approached later in the day.

The Kenyan Red Cross tweeted that nine bodies were recovered Sunday night, bringing the death toll to 68.

More than 175 were injured in the attack, Kenyatta said. He and other Kenyan officials visited hospitals Sunday morning.

"No one should lose their life so needlessly, so senselessly and no family should have to receive news that their loved ones have been killed by a criminal bunch of cowards," the president said.

The mall siege was the deadliest terror attack in Kenya since al Qaeda blew up the U.S. Embassy there in 1998, killing 213 people.