Vol 29 No 5

10 March 2019

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AUSTRALIA

Opt-out not the answer for organ donation
- Sandi Parsons
- 21 March 2019
6 Comments
The key deciding factor for both opt-in and opt-out systems requires that next-of-kin provide consent. Without this consent, organ donation will not proceed under either an opt-in or opt-out model. As such, education and awareness, and an understanding of organ donation as a gift, is the best way to raise organ donation rates.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

J. K. needs to stop Harry Potter queerbaiting
- Neve Mahoney
- 21 March 2019
11 Comments
Rowling still wants it both ways — the kudos for representation that she never explicitly included, with the benefit of no actual risk. Back then, having an openly gay character would have been taking a stand. But now, in 2019, a straight author winking at queerness is just not good enough.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Your last day
- Maureen O'Brien
- 20 March 2019
14 Comments
On the morning of your last day there are eight people, including me and my daughter, who is a music therapist and has played music for people as they die as part of her clinical practice. After discussions during the week, first with you and then with your neurologist, it was decided that she will sing for you and the people with you today.
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AUSTRALIA

'Virtue signalling' and other slimy words
- Andrew Hamilton
- 20 March 2019
17 Comments
The slimy words are those that convict their targets of simulating virtue. They include the old favourite 'bleeding hearts', the perennial 'political correctness' and the most recently minted 'virtue signalling'. They are slimy because they purport to be counters in rational argument but dismiss opposed arguments without engaging with them.
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AUSTRALIA

NZ shooter: The myth of Australian values
- Binoy Kampmark
- 19 March 2019
24 Comments
Penny Wong dismissed Tarrant as un-Australian, a dangerous point given that Australian values have been rather flexible in their deployment. The same treatment is reserved for Anning: 'He does not represent who we are.' The painful truth is that Anning and Tarrant are representative of an aspect of Australian national identity.
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AUSTRALIA

'People as things': a new story after Christchurch
- Michael McVeigh
- 19 March 2019
7 Comments
In the wake of the Christchurch attacks, I’m not interested in learning how the person who killed those people was radicalised. It’s the oldest story in the world. It’s what happens when you decide the humanity of a group of people no longer matters. I’m tired of that story. I need a new one.
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INTERNATIONAL

Land rights and climate change in Chile, Brazil
- Ramona Wadi
- 19 March 2019
2 Comments
As climate change continues to take centre stage, stepping away from the drivel spouted by leaders and instead highlighting the legitimacy of anti-colonial struggle as the foundation from which to combat all forms of detrimental land exploitation is not just preferable. It is an obligation.
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CARTOON

The bitter harvest
- Fiona Katauskas
- 19 March 2019
1 Comment
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ARTS AND CULTURE

The man in the pork-pie hat
- Julie Perrin
- 19 March 2019
7 Comments
A small commotion at the doorway of the store catches my attention. A man in a pork-pie hat marches across the threshold. He carries a small back pack and steps with an uneven gait. He has a sure message, calling out a gamely, 'Good morning! Good morning everyone!' He looks about with purpose. Initially no one replies.
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RELIGION

Yarralumla Mosque, the day after Christchurch
- Daniel Sleiman
- 18 March 2019
3 Comments
A lady with tears in her eyes asked if I was Muslim. I told her that I am. She asked it if would it be okay if she came in and said a prayer. 'Of course,' I replied. She knelt, quietly sobbing, and said a few words. I also knelt and recited a few verses from the Quran. We were complete strangers sharing a unique and emotional moment.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Our hands
- Clare Locke and Colleen Keating
- 18 March 2019
3 Comments
The church is an old man with heavy robes. Heavy lidded, head bowed. Stooped. We are twisting, clutching, writhing. Pointing fingers, fists stamping tables or shaking in fury. But the old man is deaf and blind and besides, his head is low, and he sits within a prison cell.
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AUSTRALIA

Do drug users deserve to die?
- Tim Hutton
- 18 March 2019
8 Comments
Maybe I'm just a bleeding-heart lefty, but I hope that most people would answer this question with a 'no'. Unfortunately, if you read the comment section of any news story on the recent spate of drug-related deaths at music festivals you will find a mixed response.
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INTERNATIONAL

Ending the cycle of violence in Kashmir
- Tim Robertson
- 15 March 2019
1 Comment
The world leaders who rushed to condemn the Valentine's Day attack have long remained silent on state-sanctioned oppression in Kashmir. That's no longer a surprise; nor is the fact that the attack was covered by every major western media organisation, while the daily injustices perpetrated against ordinary Kashmiris go unreported.
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INTERNATIONAL

Cuba's constitutional reforms bring hope
- Antonio Castillo
- 15 March 2019
6 Comments
Cuba's constitutional referendum in February displayed overwhelming support for the government. More than six million voted yes, while around 706,000 voted no. The new constitution represents a step forward for the democratic, economic and social development of the country.
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AUSTRALIA

People with disabilities confront travel injustice
- Jane Britt
- 14 March 2019
2 Comments
Several incidents in Australia this week highlight the inherent challenges of undertaking travel which people in the Australian disabled community have long understood. Travel is neither completely accessible nor inclusive, even in 2019. I know this from experience. I have low vision and I'm profoundly deaf in one ear.
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ENVIRONMENT

Children speak truth to climate inaction
- Cristy Clark
- 13 March 2019
21 Comments
My children will be walking out of school for the School Strike 4 Climate Action. My eldest says she wants 'to protest that adults should actually do something about this planet that is dying, because we're all going to die with it'. She sees climate change action as a black and white issue.
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EDUCATION

High school protestors are good citizens
- Jo Hart
- 13 March 2019
9 Comments
Despite criticism of past protests by Scott Morrison and Matt Canavan, the next School Strike for Climate is happening Friday 15 March. In the wake of the Covington Catholic High School controversy, how should schools take seriously the challenge of educating students to be engaged citizens responding to urgent issues?
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AUSTRALIA

Murphy's Law: The PM on Christmas Island
- Andrew Hamilton
- 13 March 2019
11 Comments
The visit was clearly choreographed as part of the pre-election opera to draw public attention to the dramatic act of a strong leader who is prepared to stop boats and keep out asylum seekers. But it was supplanted even on the front page of the Coalition-friendly Australian by the story of a National Party insurgency in Queensland.
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CARTOON

Something in the air
- Fiona Katauskas
- 12 March 2019
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Whisper in the wilderness
- Elizabeth Young
- 12 March 2019
5 Comments
The answer came well before the question. Something hidden in the undergrowth of my heart; unearthing it was an art form meant for the most determined bugs. Those petty thoughts that bugged me waited for the whoosh to be scattered to the winds. Out here in the bush nothing is predictable and nothing nearly happened.
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AUSTRALIA

Fighting back against period stigma
- Brenna Dempsey
- 10 March 2019
7 Comments
Last week, a man decided to show his expertise on menstruation and educate menstruators on how to cut down on the costs of having a period. He concluded by suggesting we ought to 'cut down on [our] starbucks venti frapps and stop whining'. The scariest thing about this is that this lack of understanding is not uncommon.
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INTERNATIONAL

Trump's new Cold War
- David James
- 09 March 2019
7 Comments
It has been postulated that there are three types of war: kinetic, informational and economic. America has been losing its kinetic conflicts in the Middle East and recently has escalated its informational war. The favoured weapon with economic warfare is sanctions, and Trump has started to use them to an extreme degree.
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INTERNATIONAL

Winter road trip to the China-Russian border
- Jeremy Clarke
- 06 March 2019
Any tourist to this spot presumably stands in awe under the character, having crossed the full delineation of Chinese territory, and then gazes out over the Heilongjiang to Russia on the other side. North: them. Here: us. Cue national pride.
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Vol 29 No 5