The Vicious End

*

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Leonard Cohen.

The quarry was still there, shivering. The rhythmic voices which had destroyed him, the cascading dementia which was all we could ever ask for now and into the future, now that our hopes and dreams had been destroyed, was an article of faith. He revealed the truth and was ridiculed. Everyone wanted to fit in. Take my life, take my wife, take a needle to my life; the strange multi-armed fish man in that strange, strange place, it's eight tentacle arms ripping itself a part in a liquid environment of immense sadness, so strange, so strange, these muffled intensities, these cruelties. But above all the sadness, an inflicted melancholy so deep, so heavy, it was almost impossible to move. He had believed it all, as if these worlds were real, as if all he had to do was reach them. It's a wonderful program, it helps you discover yourself, drizzling, naive little 20-somethings dribbled on, and he heard the gasping sighs, but above3 all the sinking heart, and knew there was no retreat.

I'm just a garden gnome alcoholic, each of the subsequent speakers made a point of saying, as if his madness and to them clear insanity could infect them if they did not immediately disassociate themselves. He so regretted telling the truth; of making himself vulnerable, of talking, talking, when silence would have sufficed, been preferable. It was all so fashionable, and his deranged journey, his trajectory through the heart of darkness and beyond, should have remained something never revealed, not the subject of ridicule and gossip. He was so sad. His heart had become so broken under the weight, his fears so profound, there in the darkness, there in the streets which would never understand, never provide comfort, there amongst the normal, concrete coloured houses, the looming lamp posts. The Drift had been a real fear. He was falling into madness. He knew he had gone too far.

These were the reasons he had become such an oblivion seeker - anything to destroy the way he felt, the insistent insanity, the overwhelming melancholy, the fragile but overwhelming status of these secret worlds, passing away, passing away, death around every corner, the viciousness of every beat, the profound impacts these things were having on him. And the sick grey octopus man, ripping himself to pieces with syringes, where did he come from, where did he go? Was he always there? So it seemed. He couldn't tell the truth, it would be dismissed as gibber. He couldn't tell anyone how he really felt, they would laugh. Be open, honest and willing, the bright young things intoned, and he shuddered at the very thought of revelation. How could anyone be honest with such a sick head? Was there no one who could protect him; no one amongst the saints?

Overlaid with the shy, atrophied little creature that hid behind the seven screens; overlaid yet again with his elaborate hoax, his carefully prepared mimicking act, his pretense at being a normal human being, and there was one "effed unit" as the saying went. They stood up in sequence. "I'm doing lots of head miles," they would say, as if they were capable of anything but the most rudimentary, linear, sequential thought. Not for them the empty warehouses of his later years; or then, the pervading grey sickness populated by these strange creatures he could never reveal, had never spoken about to anybody. How could he tell anyone what he really thought? The Oblivion Seekers had been the name of the play he wrote, and all was lost, lost, as he drowned in the turmoil, as he sank through the sickening grey membranes, wiped the evil guck from his narrow frame, and sank yet further into human depravity.

He could hear the drip of the shower greatly amplified, the gasp of pleasure or release of a hard earnt orgasm in the echoing rooms. How sickening these earthlings were, how base their instincts. He couldn't say farewell to these strange creatures which had taken root in his consciousness so long ago. He thought they had vanished when the walls came tumbling down, when he endured The Drift and emerged safely on the other side, much to his surprise, still alive, still batting on; he said chirpily to a world which would never be his, where he could never fit in, not if he wanted to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but. They weren't the type of creatures you could be fond of; their return was not a welcome development. Evil had come back to live. The walls had risen once again. The deep-sea fabric, the haunted responses, they had all come flooding back. All because he had made a simple mistake. He had picked up.

THE BIGGER STORY:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/bosses-fret-over-new-ir-laws-20090701-d59g.html

UNEASY employer groups lined up beside the triumphant ACTU president, Sharan Burrow, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, to face the full bench of the nation's new workplace tribunal yesterday.

Fair Work Australia replaces the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in an expanded role in which it will set minimum wages and adjudicate collective agreements - heralding a significantly altered industrial relations landscape.

The acting chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Greg Evans, told Fair Work Australia that in the difficult economic climate many businesses were struggling to maintain viability and employment levels.

The chamber is concerned about the effect of unfair dismissal laws on small business and noted Fair Work Australia had already appointed 25 roaming conciliators that it said highlighted an expected "upsurge in claims". All employers were also now facing widened anti-discrimination provisions, it said.

Outside the tribunal Mr Evans warned unions against going "too hard too early" under the new workplace laws and said this would threaten not only the existence of their members' jobs "but potentially Australia's economic recovery".

"Unfortunately, employers are now required to sit down at the bargaining table despite unions making irresponsible wage claims," he said.

However Ms Gillard said employers should be celebrating the introduction of a system "that matches the will of the Australian community, that ends the era of division".

http://business.smh.com.au/business/blogs-wont-beat-us-news-chief-20090701-d58z.html

NEWS LIMITED'S chief executive, John Hartigan, has launched a broadside on bloggers and other online amateurs, arguing they are no substitute for professional journalists.

His attack came as he gave an update on his company's plan to generate revenue on the internet through charging for content rather than attracting advertising, and hinted at plans to stymie news aggregator sites such as Google's and Yahoo's.

In a speech to the National Press Club yesterday, Mr Hartigan attacked sites such as Crikey and Mumbrella for their heavy reliance on the work of newspapers and news wire services, claiming less than 10 per cent of their content was original reporting.

His most scathing attack was reserved for bloggers, who, he said, lacked resources and access to key decision-makers.

"In return for their free content, we pretty much get what we've paid for - something of such limited intellectual value as to be barely discernible from massive ignorance," he said.

He said blogs often gave a platform for "radical sweeping statements unsubstantiated with evidence".

Mr Hartigan's attack on blogs came a month after his company launched the news commentary website The Punch, which he said was reaching 200,000 users in its first month, compared to the target of 80,000. Next month Fairfax Media, the owner of The Sydney Morning Herald, will launch its own news commentary website, The National Times.

As part of a global effort to increase revenue from the internet, Mr Hartigan said News Limited has established three teams around the country to investigate options for charging for content on its websites, which is at present free to users and relies on advertising for revenue.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/8127914.stm

A Hampshire man has started work as the new caretaker of an Australian tropical island after winning a competition to land "the best job in the world".

Ben Southall, 34, a charity fundraiser from Petersfield, beat more than 34,000 applicants to the position.

His new job requires him to live and report from Hamilton Island on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef.

He begun his six-month job earlier by settling into his new home, a luxury ocean-front villa called Blue Pearl.

Mr Southall also picked up the golf buggy that will be his main transport for the next six months.

He said "excited" did not begin to describe how he felt about officially beginning the job.

"It seems a lifetime ago when I sat down in January to plan and film my 60 second video application," he said.

"At times I still can't believe I was successful in being offered what has to be the most sought-after job in the world.

Tourism Queensland picture, a man stands on rocks with 'best job' sign
34,000 people in 200 countries entered the competition

"During the selection process in May I was lucky enough to visit a small part of the destination so I can't wait to get out there, start exploring as many of the 600 islands that I can, and start telling the world about my experiences."