Given the unexpected pace of events in recent weeks, the end of Syria’s seven-year agony appears to be very near. It is now all but certain that Bashar al-Assad’s government will win its long war against Sunni jihadists and their foreign supporters. The focus in Syria is already turning from conflict, casualty counts, and displacement to reconciliation, resettlement, and reconstruction. (more…)
John Menadue
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JOHN GEHRING. Catholic evolution on L.G.B.T. rights (New York Times International Edition 07/07/18)
Pope Francis has struck a more welcoming tone, but the church still needs tangible institutionalized reform. (more…)
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BRAD CHILCOTT. It’s not size that matters, it’s what you do with it.
Members of the Australian Parliament are rich. All of them – from the $200m Prime Minister down to the backbencher earning $203 020 a year and regardless of political affiliation – are in the top 0.5% of the richest people in the world. Although Senator Lucy Gichuhi believes her annual income is “not a lot of money” it’s still four times Australia’s median salary ($55 063) – which means that 50% of Australian adults live off less than a quarter of the Senator’s earnings. She’s not doing it tough. (more…)
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DAVID VAUX, PETER BROOKS, SIMON GANDEVEA. Weakened code risks Australia’s reputation for research integrity (The Conversation, 29.06.18)
In 2018, Australia still does not have appropriate measures in place to maintain research integrity. And recent changes to our code of research conduct have weakened our already inadequate position. (more…)
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ROBYN MOLONEY. Learning languages early is key to making Australia more multilingual (The Conversation 3/7/2018)
Simon Birmingham recently announced the government will invest an additional A$11.8 million in a successful preschool language learning program.
Some 300 languages are spoken in Australia. In the Greater Sydney area alone, nearly 40% of households speak a language other than English and many children of these households attend weekend community language learning.
But, in New South Wales for example, less than 10% of secondary students make it through to a final end of secondary school examination (Higher School Certificate) in an additional language. A report of Chinese learning shows of all the learners who start Chinese study 96% have dropped out by senior secondary level.
The additional funding for pre-secondary school language education is a step in the right direction to making Australia a more bilingual country. Starting early is the key to making sure students continue with their language education. (more…)
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PEPE ESCOBAR. China’s silky charming of Arabia (Asian Times, 11.07.18)
President Xi Jinping has promised more than $23 billion in loans and aid to Arab states, as Beijing ramps up ties with the Middle East; this includes aid for Palestine; Beijing foresees importing a whopping $8 trillion from Arab states up to 2025. (more…)
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JOHN QUIGGIN. Australia’s failed energy policy needs more than just a Band-Aid (the Guardian 13.07.18)
The ACCC report is a mishmash of cognitive dissonance and half-baked suggestions for fixing the unfixable. (more…)
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PETER DAY: The Endarkenment
“God is dead, God is Dead!”
A new Enlightenment has dawned.
Bow to its three pillars: Reason, Science, Humanism. (more…)
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KATHRYN KELLY. Armed Neutrality for Australia?
The talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un give some reason for a glimmer of hope for the Korean Peninsula, but given Donald Trump’s predilection for middle of the night tweets, that could come unstuck at any moment. The international situation continues to be uncertain, with China and the US still facing off over the South China Sea and war in Syria continuing. US power is waning and there is an urgent need for Australia to rethink our security strategy for the future. I think it’s timely to revisit the concept of armed neutrality. (more…)
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HANKYOREH EDITORIAL. President Moon’s vision for peace and prosperity after denuclearization
In a “Singapore Lecture” during the final day of his state visit to Singapore on July 13, President Moon Jae-in outlined his vision for an inter-Korean economic community and peace on the Korean Peninsula. It could be seen as his second “vision for peace,” after the one he presented in the German capital of Berlin in July of last year. It is deeply significant that he shared this vision for a future of Korean peace and prosperity in the same place as the historic North Korea-US summit one month ago. (more…)
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JOHN HANNON. Where and who are the prophetic voices today? (a homily)
The old adage is that familiarity breeds contempt; alternatively, absence makes the heart grow fonder! But the the truest of all relating to today’s Gospel is that a prophet is not accepted in his own country, perhaps less so because he seen as just familiar and ordinary. Moreover, human nature seems to be naturally prone as resistant to change or challenge. Just this last week, it was reported that Frank Brennan SJ, the well-known Jesuit, was prevented from speaking at a Catholic conference in Hobart, apparently because he had expressed certain views about the separation of Church and State, specifically in relation to gay marriage. (more…)
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RAE WALKER. Is the Banking Royal Commission Australia’s Canary?
Falling levels of trust in Australian institutions is frequently raised in the media and other public discussions as a serious concern. Reports from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry is providing an astonishing insight into the experiences of citizen and business customers of these institutions and the corporate values and management that facilitates the untrustworthiness commentators are concerned about. (more…)
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ELIZABETH HLAVINKA. High Opioid-Use Counties Voted Trump in 2016 (Medpage Today 22/6/2018)
Opioids are symptom, symbol of ‘larger social and economic problems’. Counties with the highest rates of chronic prescription opioid use were far more likely to back Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, a new study of Medicare claims data found. (more…)
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GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media. (more…)
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JEAN-MARIE COLLIN. The Nuclear Illusion Strikes Again (La Tribune, 08/06/2018)
The issue of NW’s, everyone’s, is riddled with hypocrisy. This is a great example; from France, an ardent defender of the Iran agreement and, a country which played a major role in Israel’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. (more…)
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‘Being Muslim’ lifestyle sweeps Indonesia (La Croix International, 07/07/18)
Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp is claiming a first in Indonesia — halal refrigerators — after the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) granted the manufacturer halal status.
It’s the latest indication that Islam is being commoditized in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. (more…)
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PETER DRYSALE AND SHIRO ARMONSTRONG. Getting Australia’s geopolitical and economic strategies aligned (Australian Financial Review, 08/07/18)
Australia, it has been said, is faced with hard choices in strategic policy because its principal security partner is the United States and its major trading partner, China. By defining Australia’s national interest comprehensively where both China and the United States matter – and where security and economics are integrated into strategic decision making from the outset – Australia would be better placed to deal with the ongoing challenges from both countries (and others) in a complex world. (more…)
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TERRY BARNES. Pharmacy power is a paper tiger (AFR 4/7/2018)
If something looks, walks and acts like a duck, it’s a duck. In the case of pharmacy giant Chemist Warehouse, however, it’s anything but. (more…) -
TOM HUSSAIN. In Pakistan’s currency crisis, China is the problem and the solution. (South China Morning Post 7/7/2018)
Having racked up unsustainable bills in supporting Beijing’s infrastructure master plan, Islamabad is bailed out by China to the tune of US$1 billion – leaving it more dependent than ever on its ‘all-weather ally’.
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BERTIL LINTNER. As Trump turns away, China gains in Myanmar (Asia Times 4/7/2018)
US leader has left predecessor Obama’s engagement policy to wilt on the vine, giving Beijing an opening to renew its trade and security agendas
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BHIM BHURTEL. India’s myopic ‘muscular’ neighborhood policy (Asia Times 2/7/2018)
Despite one “muscular diplomatic” debacle after another, India has been unrelenting in its bullying attitude toward its small and weak neighbors. India is imposing another economic blockade on a third South Asian country, Maldives.
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TILMAN RUFF. The treaty banning nuclear weapons one year on: history made, a solid start, here to stay, and miles to go before we sleep
One year ago, on 7 July 2017 at the United Nations in New York, 122 nations took a historic step when they voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty filled a gaping hole in international law, providing a comprehensive prohibition on the last weapons of mass destruction to be declared illegal; the only weapons that could not only end all of us, but deny future generations of our kind and many others a right to be born. So in the race to end nuclear weapons before they end us, how is the Treaty faring one year on? (more…)
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JULIE SONNERMANN. Kids of migrant families do better at school – and we should think about why
Children of migrant families in Australia consistently outperform their more established peers at school. And new analysis using NAPLAN data shows schools with lots of migrant-background students not only achieve at higher levels, but they have higher growth over time on average too. (more…)
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ANDREW SALMON. South Korea unveils plan for N Korean economic enrichment (Asia Times 3/7/2018)
Ideas for the North’s development and regional integration, while ripe with promise, face obstacles and remain dependent on the US and denuclearization
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DANIEL OBERHAUS. 30 Years of Data Shows Asylum Seekers Are Not an Economic Burden (Motherboard)
A new study shows that giving migrants pathways to citizenship in European countries actually results in positive economic impacts, while asylum seekers don’t have a negative impact. (more…)
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PAUL KRUGMAN. Big business reaps Trump’s whirlwind (New York Times)
The bill for decades of cynical politics is coming due. (more…)
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JOHN QUIGGIN. Westward, look, the land is bright (Inside Story)
Amid more bad news from Washington come signs that attitudes are hardening against much of what the Trump presidency stands for. (more…)
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KATHARINE MURPHY. ‘We’ve turned a corner’: farmers shift on climate change and want a say on energy.
National Farmers’ Federation head Fiona Simson says people on the land can’t ignore what is right before their eyes. (more…)
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RICHARD A. BITZINGER. US, China cash in on Asia’s growing appetite for arms.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just released its data on the global arms trade for 2017, and it is big news for Asia as a whole, and for China and the United States in particular. (more…)