Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

He will continue to play the guitar, even if someone complains they cannot
sleep because of his playing.
With my own CTC homemade bowl full of nuts, it will be nibble, nibble,
nibble. After all, I have reached 83 kg and that is pleasing. But the coffee
mug is slightly annoying me because I misspelt ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’, with
‘Arbet’, and it is too late to add the’i’.
Saturday, 19 September: At the library I find an interesting article in the
Weekend Australian Magazine on the Bhutto assassination. In his article
Bruce Loudon calls it ‘a conspiracy so malevolent and so complex that its
tentacles have yet to be fully revealed … that suggests a conspiracy way
beyond the wit and capability…’. Well, well, what’s new! Let’s look at 9/11,
7/7, Madrid and Bali bombings, Port Arthur, Oklahoma, and the list is
long. One common denominator is that after such events there is always a
reaction that is justified because of the initial event. For example, the
weapons of mass destruction or the 1991 incubator story. At the UN
Security Council meeting a young girl relates how Saddam Hussein’s forces
in Kuwait are ripping babies out of their incubators, and so his invasion of
Kuwait, which indirectly was sanctioned by the USA, becomes a staging
post for the free and democratic western forces to invade and ‘liberate’
Kuwait from an evil dictatorship, which in 2003 is finally overthrown, much
to the joy of Israel and Iran that both wished to see this secular Suni
government disappear.
After a month’s residence at CTC my general pattern has emerged. As with
any human group activity, the newcomer adjusts and re-adjusts to prevailing
conditions. Jim Earley sets the tone with his uncompromising attitude
towards work. He struts across the oval as a person who has seen the
newcomers come and go, so much so that this place is for him like a
backpackers hostel. I like Jim’s attitude because he refuses to feel sorry for
himself, and he refuses to be crushed by those who wish him to breakdown
after 20 years inside! Ecce Homo – what a man!
After waking around 6 a.m., I do my basic toiletry. At 7 a.m. when the cell
is unlocked I am ready to emerge. In the kitchenette I fill my mug with
three Weet-Bix, a couple spoons of coffee, hot water and a dash of milk.
Sometimes I while away at the table on my own or if someone else is up we
chit-chat. Otherwise it is back to the cell to watch the news on Channel 7, 9
or 10.
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