Modern governments respond to only two varieties of emergency: those whose solution is bombs and bullets, and those whose solution is bailouts for the banks. But what if they decided to take other threats as seriously?
John Menadue
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DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO AND DAVID BOND . UK National Cyber Security Centre says Huawei is manageable risk to 5G( Financial Times London 18.2.2019
British intelligence has concluded that it is possible to mitigate the risk from using Huawei equipment in 5G networks, in a serious blow to US efforts to persuade allies to ban the Chinese supplier from high-speed telecommunications systems.
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MARILYN HATTON. Pray and light a candle for our church in crisis.
For years a small but expanding number of Catholics in Australia have beenappealing for church reform and have struggled to gain attention from our bishops. Our prayers and entreaties for change in the clerical, male-dominated cloisters have fallen on unattentive ears.
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RUTH ADLER. Brexit uncertainties fuel speculation on Irish unification referendum
With weeks remaining until the 29 March deadline for a deal on Brexit, there is speculation that failure to reach agreement will result in increased momentum for a referendum on Irish unification under the Good Friday Agreement. Several Cabinet Ministers in Theresa May’s government are reportedly seriously concerned about the prospect, with one describing it as ‘very real’. Another has expressed concern that the British government risks ‘sleepwalking into a border poll’. Such a referendum would, however, be unlikely to succeed at the present time.
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LIZ HANNA. A warming Australia spells serious trouble for human health
Climate change. Global warming. A hotter planet. A hotter Australia. Yet few are asking the difficult question of ‘how hot is too hot?’. We have so many elephants in the room at present that ‘the room’ is getting pretty crowded, but as we are barrelling towards 1.5oC of planetary warming since pre-industrial times, the ‘how hot is too hot’ elephant is definitely ‘in the room’. We need to let it out and examine heat tolerance.
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GERARD O’CONNELL. Before arriving in U.A.E., pope challenges his hosts to help end Yemen crisis
Pope Francis made a powerful appeal to “the interested parties” and “to the international community” to end the humanitarian crisis in Yemen in which some 10 million people risk starvation.
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CLAIRE GIANGRAVE. UN panel probes Italy’s role in Church’s child abuse scandals
A United Nations Committee for the protection of minors questioned the Italian government last week about clerical sexual abuse in the country, expressing concern over laws that protect predator priests from criminal charges.
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IAN AND TIM ROBINSON. A Sad Excuse for a National Day
A National Day should be the anniversary of a central event in the life of the nation, a day when we all come together and celebrate our nation’s shared values – a celebration of the start of our nation’s journey, usually the attainment of independence, or some other significant national milestone.
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CIARA MORRIS. Seeing China Through a Washington Lens
Balancing relations between China and the US is arguably Australia’s greatest foreign policy challenge in the 21st century. But is Australia getting it right?
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PATSY MCGARRY. Church response to modern abuse scandals ‘same as 30 years ago.’
Marie Collins claims lessons of abuse in Ireland not being used to change policy elsewhere ‘The church reaction is a mirror image of what we were hearing here in Ireland 30 years ago.’ (more…)
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SANG JIEJA. Tibetans get home decor order: Hang Xi, Mao portrait
Dalai Lama images removed from temples, monasteries as Party reinforces iconography of its ‘heroes’; households next
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RICHARD KINGSFORD. The catastrophic fish kill on the Darling River– decades in the making
The plight of the Darling River shocked the nation last week, when up to a million fish were killed by lack of oxygen, accompanying the disruption of a blue-green algal bloom on a forty kilometre stretch of the river near Menindee, southeast of Broken Hill. This followed a similar kill of tens of thousands of native fish in December.
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‘CHRIS HARRINGTON. Care? The scourge of the ward station’
The professionalism in hospitals may have contributed greatly to better data collection and use of technology, but after a visit to a hospice and an ICU unit recently, I wondered what has happened to care. Our system is failing us.
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JEFFREY SACHS and others.- Fully Filling the Global Fund.
In a world divided by conflict and greed, the Global Fund’s fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria is a matter of enlightened self-interest and a reminder of how much humanity can accomplish when we cooperate to save lives. For public and private donors, that means providing the financing needed to eliminate all three scourges by 2030.
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JONATHAN WEISMAN. American Jews and Israeli Jews break up
The events of the past year brought American and Israeli Jews closer to a breaking point. President Trump, beloved in Israel and decidedly unloved by a majority of American Jews, moved the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May, with the fiery evangelical pastors John Hagee and Robert Jeffress consecrating the ceremony.
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PETER WOODRUFF. What Matters at the Show and in the Church.
I spent my childhood and youth in Tasmanian towns, never had any desire to live on a farm but always enjoyed going to what I knew as ‘the show’, which was in fact an agricultural show. The show offered two kinds of spectacles: what went on in the side-shows and what happened in the main arena. (more…)
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GARRY EVERETT. A Legal Leap of Faith?
GARRY EVERETT. A Legal Leap of Faith?
In the Weekend Australian (5/6 Jan.’19), Professor Greg Graven wrote an article entitled Taking a Legal Leap of Faith. In essence it is an examination of the key issues involved in trying to legislate in the matter of religious freedom. This is a disappointing contribution. (more…)
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CHRISTOPHER LAMB. Pope Francis comes out in support of Macron and Merkel in warning against the resurgence of Nationalism.
The Pope said the ‘resurgence of nationalistic tendencies’ is at odds with the ‘vocation’ of international bodies The Tablet 08 January 2019.
Pope Francis leads an annual meeting to exchange greetings for the new year with diplomats accredited to the Holy See, at the Vatican Jan. 7.
Photo: Pope Francis leads an annual meeting to exchange greetings for the new year with diplomats accredited to the Holy See, at the Vatican Jan. 7. (more…) -
MARTYN LLOYD JONES, PAUL KOMESAROFF. Here’s why doctors are backing pill testing at music festivals across Australia
For many years experts in the field of drug policy in Australia have known existing policies are failing. Crude messages (calls for total abstinence: “just say no to drugs”) and even cruder enforcement strategies (harsher penalties, criminalisation of drug users) have had no impact on the use of drugs or the extent of their harmful effects on the community.
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STEWART FIRTH. China, Samoa and debt-for-equity swaps- East Asia Forum Jan. 3 2019
Last year, Australia discovered the debt owed to Chinese banks by Pacific island countries. As the debate over China’s intentions in the region grew, commentators pointed to the possibility that Pacific countries might be compelled to accept debt-for-equity swaps if they could not repay. The port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka, where a Chinese company obtained a 99-year lease to run commercial operations in return for helping to pay the country’s debt, was the commonly raised example.
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KELLIE MERRITT. Stepping up to the war crease.
Unaccountable spin and double standards are the stuff of “good bloke” politicians. It’s a skilful charade that perpetuates unchecked executive power and distances the parliament and public. Kellie Merritt’s husband Paul was killed “whilst on operational duty” in Iraq. She doesn’t want to collude with the “good blokes”. Truth is often the first casualty of war… and cricket.
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JOE ROACH. Inequality-A case of wood and trees.
Economists love data. For some it is a case of the more the merrier….or, at the least, the more data the more articles than can be published. Whether this contributes much to the overall good is doubtful. When it misleads it needs to be called out.
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NICK DEANE. Armistice Day
On ‘Remembrance Day’ we should not forget that the majority of war’s casualties are actually non-combatant civilians. We should also remember that the original day was a day of great joy, as warring came to an end. Peace is the ‘default position’; war an aberration. However, current commemorations still focus on the ‘warrior hero’.
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JOHN HANNON. Complexities of Catholic marriage.
As Brendan Byrne SJ, scripture scholar, comments on today’s Gospel( 7 October 2018): “Any pastor would be aware that no Sunday Gospel read throughout the year… will require more careful handling than this one… To simply read out the rulings of Jesus in the Gospel without comment or nuance would be to turn Gospel into Law, and simply add to a burden of guilt that may already be oppressive” So, here goes, for my take!
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DAVID BOOTH, JOHN TURNBULL. The backflip over Sydney’s marine park is a defiance of science.
The New South Wales government’s decision to back away from establishing no-fishing zones in waters around Sydney leaves significant question marks over the plan, which is open for public consultation until September 27. (more…)
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CHRIS FOTINOPOULOS. Bigotry is bad business, so why not let the consumer decide?
Take a drive along any arterial road in Australia and you’re likely to pass dwellings dedicated to various deities with its congregants practising their brand of faith free of external interference. Apart from the exclusive varieties, most churches are open to anyone seeking respite from secular life. But as much as most churches are welcoming, they are free to exclude anyone who disrespects church ethos. Just as I can ask an unruly guest to leave my home, so too can a church official determine who leaves God’s home. (more…)
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LYNDSAY CONNORS. Coalition recycles old nonsense with business-as-usual schools deal (the Guardian, 22.09.18)
The prime minister’s announcement of an extra $4.6bn in funding over the next decade for private schools makes no sense. (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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DENIS MULLER. Media power: why the full story of Murdoch, Stokes and the Liberal leadership spill needs to be told (The Conversation, 20.09.18)
The first German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, said there were two sights the public should not see: the making of laws and the making of sausages. To this list of enduringly nauseating spectacles we should add one more: the political machinations of media moguls. (more…)