> Hi Dave,
>
> What worries me is that most people I talk to feel similarly to myself,
with
> variations, but, at least according to the polls, most people are feeling
> and talking differently, ie, veering into a kind of Fortress Australia
> thuggery.
>
> Now, of course, I supposedly mix in 'certain' circles. Maybe. But I also
> live in a suburb of mixed ethnic backgrounds that is, at least still in
> part, working class and I must say I still don't find the blinkered
approach
> I would expect if I believed the polls (of course, again, there are many
> variations on this theme).
>
> In the end, I have no idea how this Saturday's vote will turn out. My
> natural pessimism leads me to think 'three more years of 1950s style
> rhetoric and backward looking policies' but I could just be wrong.
>
> As the Cap'n says 'the swing is on' and I know serious people who are
> actually predicting Labor by 10 seats. I don't know about that but I bet
on
> the winner in the Melbourne Cup this week and John Howard's bet came
nowhere
> (as did Kim Beazley's, but who cares). So, maybe I'm a bit 'Ethereal' but
> hope is neck and neck with doubt and fear.
>
> Best,
> Jill
>
> P.S. Ethereal was a mare and first Cup winner to be trained by a woman, a
> New Zealander, of course. Is that an omen, or what?
>
>
I guess I could say I move in 'mixed' circles (as well as desperate ones!)
and certainly something akin to a 'Fortress' mentality seems to be
solidifying hereabouts (I live in a city centre btw so I get the full
range). I hope that if Labor win in Aus it doesn't turn out to be akin the
experience we've had with the Tonyites (I mean we have a supposed Labour
govt that is actively seeking ways to privatise health care)
Now I heard about the Melbourne Cup (from someone who didn't back the right
winner) but I wasn't told the horse's name. Ethereal, that's definitely an
omen.
I must say there has to be a bizarre kind of hope for a country that has a
public holiday for a horse race.
Best
Dave
David Bircumshaw
Leicester, England
Home Page
A Chide's Alphabet
Painting Without Numbers
www.paintstuff.20m.com/index.htm
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jill Jones" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2001 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: THE SWING IS ON
> on 7/11/01 9:40 PM, david.bircumshaw at [log in to unmask]
wrote:
>
> > In this town I'm experiencing a unique sensation, that of going quiet
> > suddenly when people talk about politics, as my voice isn't one that
would
> > be welcome anymore. One does find wee oases of 'howevers', but they only
> > seem to come from the comfortably off. What worries me is that the
> > right-wing sentiments that have not only existed in the
'working-classes'
> > for years but also have been growing in recent times seem to have found
a
> > new home not in the covert support for the Thatcherites of not long gone
but
> > in the supposedly acceptable face of New Labour - almost daily one hears
> > things from this govt that are more and more like the closing scene of
> > Animal Farm.
>
> _________________________________
> Jill Jones
> 50 Ruby Street
> Marrickville NSW 2204
> AUSTRALIA
>
> [log in to unmask]
> http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jpjones
>
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