Small changes brought on by fear of debate... Johnnee takes the high ground again... Since he was "cornered" he changes his tune but the rhetoric seems coming from the end of the lips... But all this will make him appear "rea-son-able"... Keep smiling...

Haruki Murakami (Japanese novelist) interviewed 60 people who were involved with the 1995 sarin gas murders on the Tokyo underground railway. Toshiaki Toyoda was one of the station staff who cleaned up the remnants of the one of the sarin packages. Two of Toyoda's colleagues died. This is the final bit of the interview.

MURAKAMI: What exactly do you mean, you know "what's what without looking"?

[TOYODA] I already knew society had got to the point where something like Aum had to happen. Dealing with passengers day after day, you see wat you see. It's a question of of morals. At the station, you get a very clear picture of people at their most negative, their downsides. For instance, if we're sweping up the station with a dustpan and brush, just when we've finished, someone will flick a cigarette butt or piece of litter right on the spot where we've cleaned. There are too many slef-assertive people out there.

There's an upside to passengers, too. A bloke around 50, alsways travels on the first train of the day, always used to greet me, he probably thought I'd dies until I returned to the job. Yesterday morning when we met, he said: "Alive and well means you've still got things to do. Don't give up the fight!" It's such an encouragement just to get a cheerful greeting. Nothing comes of hatred.

--

Some potent themes buried in there. One or two of them are one-way journeys. Dear Leader and Lord Lex are already settled in on the Starwars Express. Here's another train pulling in ... let's check out the passengers ... what's that funny smell? ...

Hi Gus.  Yes little Johnnie is trying to take the high road.  Trying to put as positive a spin as possible on the Liberal Party's "mature decision" to soften the edges of mandatory detention laws.

What has been achieved is a small step towards a decent and fair policy.  A small but significant step.

And I must confess that the "rebels" achieved more than I thought they would and were more committed than I gave them credit for.

Liberals with a conscience!  They may only represent a tiny percentage of the party, but it is still a concept I'm having difficulty coming to terms with.

A friend has just emailed me with the news that Doug has just announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named ‘’Governmentium".

"Governmentium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be
detected, as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.
A minute amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over four
days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of three to four years; it does not
decay, but instead undergoes a reorganisation in which a portion of the
assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.
In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each
re-organisation will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming
isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe
that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain
concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as ‘Critical Morass’.
When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an
element which radiates just as much energy, since it has 1/2 as many peons
but twice as many morons."