The Premier of Queensland (the equivalent of a state governor in the U.S.), Peter Beattie, announced his resignation yesterday. For my American ears, it was refreshing to hear a politician resigning after nine years of service--and well before his current term was to end--for fairly simple reasons, such as wanting to spend more time with his family and desiring a healthier lifestyle. Although there could be an ulterior motive to his actions, he is leaving a booming, economically healthy state to his successor, Anna Bligh, who will be the first woman to hold this office in Queensland. Pretty cool.
Six years ago today (on a Tuesday as well) I went to work without having watched the morning news. I therefore ended up not hearing about the World Trade Center towers until after they had collapsed. At around 11 that morning I made a quick trip to the CNN center in the hope that I might learn more about was going on, but it had been immediately evacuated in case of another terrorist attack. I then went home and watched the news for the rest of the day, as life in the U.S. came to a sudden standstill. That was a horrible, scary, and sad day. And the week got only worse for me, with an unexpected change in my personal life happening a few days later. That was an important week in my life because it led to many huge changes. Thinking back to that day six years ago, it seems incredible where I have ended up today, happily typing this entry from my new home in Brisbane, Australia, with a completely different life from the one I had back then.
I heard that Michael Jackson turned 49 recently. Harrison Ford, at 65, is filming the next "Indiana Jones" movie. And an older, plumper, loonier Britney could hardly move around the stage this week at the MTV video awards. Time flies when you're having fun.
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4 comments:
Having lived here for 5+ years now, I am a bit cynical and think Beattie left before the real sh*t hits the fan in terms of health/water/infrastructure. He's also done much to undermine public confidence in politicians - tightening the FOI laws and making it legal for a MP to lie to Parliament (really!)- so I'm not sorry to see him go. I'll give Bligh a chance, however... I'm not that cynical yet.
I'm sure you are right about Beattie, mooselet. A nice part about being here for such a short time is that I haven't yet developed any real antipathy towards the Aussie politicians. With the exception of Howard, I hadn't heard of any of them before June!
First Steve Bracks (former VIC premier), now Peter Beattie. Here's to hoping our Chief Minister is next! *g*
What's so sad about Britney isn't really her weight (I've always liked a little meat on my women.) It's the fact that she became popular in the first place with such a weak voice. More importantly, she doesn't get healthy even for her children's sake...that's the real tragedy. dr. sven
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