Rigby Taylor

And I'm glad you're not bored by my tale - There will be a revolution of sorts, but not in quite the way you expect - think theatrical productions...

The power brokers in this case are in fact the student body - so Frankie has to convince them to change the rules. You are correct regarding teachers - in primary and secondary schools they are so concerned with control they don;t dare accept difference - failing to understand that if they did welcome differences, that would prevent rebels from disrupting their classrooms. but this is a University the staff really don't give a tinker's cuss about heir students, only their own prestige. Apologies for the absence of bodies.

Frankie returned to academia physically refreshed, all assignments up to date, head a ferment of plans to force the Rationalist University to be rational when it came to gender. To this end he visited Lydia Ivanovna and informed her of his strategy. She laughed, and promised to play the spy and inform the administrators of the forthcoming insurrection, firmly suggesting to the authorities that they not make fools of themselves by jumping the gun and prohibiting anything, but remain aloof until t

Thank you.

Ingenio would think a bow too primitive and invent an electronic device that explodes brain cells, Constantine would immediately try to improve on the thing so be unprepared, Sylvan would rather use a club, and Karmai would disappear then slink up from behind and slit the intruder's throat.

I have a sneaking feeling, Okiegrad, that Frankie is enjoying the excitement of dicing with danger. At that age one feels invincible, and acts accordingly. It's why the army recruits callow teenagers, not savvy twenty-five year olds who might realise the scam.

Mmmmm.... at that rate it will take seven centuries to clean up the baddies existing today - and by then there will be many more. There has to be a better way. Why oh why doesn't good eclipse bad, like light scatters dark? [Rhetorical question]

Ah yes - omens of evil. You are a prophet, perhaps Wesley - what is to come and will our hero overcome the forces of evil?

Saturday morning breakfast at "85" was an unquiet meal. Con was worried that Frankie hadn't arrived during Friday night and was ready to phone hospitals and police to see if there'd been an accident. Ingenio wasn’t concerned because he had expected Frankie to wait until Saturday, to make sure he was relaxed enough to drive safely. Both he and his son were unable to enjoy anything if they were tired or stressed. Con agreed to wait till lunch time before panicking. As a sentimental welcoming gestu

You are correct. And according to things I've read, it's a fairly consistent pattern among empires - power and wealth concentrated in a small number of people whose excesses and hubris prove disastrous. With the Romans it was mainly their desire to control the entire known world through war, rather than treaties, friendship and trade. And that reminds me of the current state of planetary politics.

You are right - it's even stranger and somewhat perverted when they take so much trouble to make sure their cleavages, legs, shoulders and overall female body-shape are exposed as much as possible - it's a very disconcerting and at times dangerous game they are playing.

Oh dear - I'm becoming repetitive, and exaggerating! You sound like my partner who is the soul of reason and quiet contemplation. In future I'll try to resist using a sledgehammer to crack a nut - I always imagine no one will listen unless I shout. However, I am sure you will be delighted with the effect of Frankie's report and subsequent actions.

I hope you are right - however unless things change rapidly, my guess is that the "Me Too" hysteria will ensure that their whims and fantasies and accusations will continue to be believed and male anger will continue to rise along with domestic violence that has reached alarming levels - the police are called out to hundreds every day, and as that is but a fraction of the total.

Yes, Frankie's a smart cookie - if a bit ingenuous. To a simple man like me, it seems there's something vindictive and nasty about actresses accusing men of abuse many years after the event. We have an excellent actor who's been ruined by a woman who accused him of touching her vagina while on stage during a performance of ' The rocky horror Show'. He was the guy in drag, his costume was very sexy, as was hers, they were all in an 'exalted mood' and yet somehow he managed, on stage, to insert a finger under her panties, through her vulva, and deep inside to reach her vagina - quite a feat. Yet her accusation was enough to destroy him and halt the screening of a TV series - simply because he was the lead actor! If that sort of nonsense isn't extreme, I don't know what is.

That is an excellent idea - however, isn't it possible that restricting people's right to wear, say, do what they like is an abuse of their 'rights' that would make the club exclusive, and that is counter to the school's philosophy of inclusion?

The somewhat bleak modernist architecture of the Rationalist University was softened by sensitive landscaping. The front was traditional; a driveway ending in a turning circle, in the centre of which bloomed roses and other pretty annuals. Topiary hedges and trees added further strict formality, and so it was a surprise to pass through an archway cut in the tall neatly trimmed hedge on the north side and discover a dozen grass tennis courts, several sealed basketball courts, a cricket ground, at

Thanks, Ulyssess, for your very kind appraisal. I hope you enjoy some of my other books too. As for your self-examination - congratulations for even thinking about such things. Trust me... you are not only one of the good ones - you are one of the perfect select few who appreciate my writing. As for evil - that's witchdoctor terminology; emotional blackmail stuff. My way of coping with the existential questions you raise is to understand that we evolved and live in a world of 'dog-eat dog' - therefore we each have to act in our own best interests in order to survive. 'Good' people do their best to do as little harm as possible, while acknowledging that the mere act of being alive means we are harming something - even if it is only the termites whose nest we displace. And we're all gullible sometimes - that's only bad if we never learn from it - keep voting for politicians who never keep promises, for example. As for standing up for what's right, of course we should, but when danger to your life and liberty will be the result, then you have to decide if your life is worth less than someone else's. It might be for your lover or child, but it would be insanity to sacrifice yourself if you didn't know the other person. And that begs the question, who should we help? How much responsibility should people take for their own actions? Can I change the way humans have evolved? It's easy to become overwhelmed by the misery of others, but will it help if I make myself miserable? I think all any individual can do is try to make their own circle as safe and comfortable as possible, and allow others to do the same for their families and friends. We may be our brother's keeper, but not our neighbour's, and certainly we can not ask ourselves to be the keeper of the entire human race.

Thanks for your comments. Yes, the trick for stability is to make people 'want' to do something. Wouldn't it be nice if teachers made kids want to learn about their topics, and even better, if politicians governed in such a way that people wanted to vote for them instead of reluctantly choosing the least worse of a bad lot. As for finding a scapegoat... that's surely not an ethical option? A sacrificial lamb human?

‘The cops have been to see Karmai,’ Frankie called from his bedroom. ‘Just got an email from Sylvan.’ Ingenio and Con came running. ‘What’s he say?’ ‘It’s… odd. I’ll read it. “Hi Frankie. I arrived safely and found the place easily. Heck of a walk from the bus stop though. Police were interviewing Karmai when I arrived. Apparently a couple of blokes are missing. They wanted to know who I was, so I told them. I got the impression they’ll contact Tasmania to check me out. The funny thi

Too true. The problem is that although the 'law' might be perfect, we depend on imperfect people to administer it - from PCs to High Court Judges, all of whom are infected with prejudice and parochialism to some degree . The civilian police were invented by Robert Peel to make the streets safe for the wealthy, who were plagued by footpads and other robbers. Protecting the rest of the population was not part of their job description and is still not their primary function - as is very clear from their actions when demonstrators are annoying the government.

Yep - happily ever after - that's the way I want my stories to end - if only....

I'll stick to one post per day for you.

That's a compliment indeed. I used to think I was an artist - made loads of paintings, but found it impossible to convey precisely what I wanted. Paintings create a mood, set a scene, and suggest ideas and events, but leave a great deal to the observer to speculate about for himself. I have a tidy mind and prefer my readers/observers to understand exactly what I'm going on about - not just hope they'd pick it up from my less than perfect daubings - so I switched to words.

Karmai stood by the gate for a long time after Frankie and the others drove away; mind blank. Deliberately not thinking. He felt drained. What the fuck had he done? He could have earned a cool five million. He grunted a laugh, no he couldn’t. As if fat Tony would have let him live. But he needn't have told Tony that Frankie had arrived. He could have said nothing. A frightened blackfella, that's what he was. Frightened of what Tony would do if he found out. But the world was a better place now w

‘Who knows you’ve come here?’ Snake asked at breakfast. ‘No one but us.’ ‘Which way did you drive?’ ‘Being Friday night we figured the main roads would be clogged with people getting away for the weekend, so we turned off just before Albury and went around Wagga Wagga to Cowra, and then side roads heading east till we got here. Took nearly eleven hours instead of eight and a half, but was safer with so much less traffic. We shared the driving between us so it wasn’t too arduous.’