Vol 33 No 22

13 November 2023

AUSTRALIA

Like the dewfall
- Michael McVeigh
- 24 November 2023
2 Comments
Australia's victory in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in the face of India's home advantage is a tale of unexpected triumph. This victory goes beyond cricket, illustrating how small factors can drastically influence outcomes, leading to greater lessons on resilience and the surprising nature of grace.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

To be Frank: In conversation with Catharine Lumby
- Barry Gittins
- 24 November 2023
Catharine Lumby was a friend and beneficiary of Moorhouse’s mentoring and advice, and before his death, was approached by him to write a warts-and-all uncensored biography. In Frank Moorhouse: A Life, Lumby explores the life of this man of letters in all of its colour and contradiction.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Telco Crash
- John Kelly
- 23 November 2023
While its virtues are ubiquitously / touted and near-idolized / as advantages in efficiency, / improved contact rapidity, / and enhanced global connectivity, / it takes but one malfunction, / not to mention piracy, / to wake us up to see / the cost is very high for / an increasing faith in / and dependency on / messianic promises and marvels
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RELIGION

The real enemy is war
- Andrew Hamilton
- 23 November 2023
3 Comments
Those who declare that the real enemy is war and who advocate for peace are usually criticised for being naively optimistic. But it is possible to recognise war to be the real enemy, while simultaneously recognising the complex challenges involved in avoiding war and encouraging peace.
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ECONOMICS

Forgive us our debts
- David James
- 23 November 2023
If money is just a set of rules, we need to ask, how can these rules best serve society and not cause crises? We know, after thousands of years of evidence, that the debt-based system of money eventually self-destructs, and this time, the effects are likely to be felt around the world.
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INTERNATIONAL

The day John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley died
- Juliette Hughes
- 22 November 2023
1 Comment
Sixty years ago today, on November 22, 1963, the world lost three towering figures of the 20th century. On their diamond jubilee, do I think it was the end of the world as we know it when these three died? Each one shaped the twentieth century in a unique way. Each one left us with much to think about still.
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AUSTRALIA

Identity and attack helicopters
- Michael McVeigh
- 22 November 2023
A recent image of an Israeli soldier with a Pride flag in Gaza's rubble recalls Isabel Fall's controversial story, ‘I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter.’ The story and the photo both highlight how symbols of liberation can be co-opted for conflict, underscoring the need to reclaim these symbols for their original, liberating intent.
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RELIGION

Revisiting an ancient call to uphold justice for the vulnerable
- Constant Mews
- 21 November 2023
3 Comments
From the eyes of history, the current cycle of violence, sharpened by each side claiming that it had suffered the greater injustice, is itself the product of a much older cycle. In our own, multi-religious society we must all recognise the need to implement justice for all the vulnerable in society. Violence does not work. Justice must prevail.
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INTERNATIONAL

The rise and fall of the Crypto King
- Max Jeganathan
- 21 November 2023
1 Comment
The spectacular rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried is a story that began with unfettered brilliance and financial wizardry, but quickly unraveled into an all-too familiar cautionary tale of swindlers, conmen, and morally vacuous ambition.
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CARTOON

Loophole
- Glen Le Lievre
- 17 November 2023
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ARTS AND CULTURE

The burden of hope in Charlotte Wood's Stone Yard Devotional
- Juliette Hughes
- 17 November 2023
Stone Yard Devotional is a chronicle of a huge problem in our time: the sense of futility in all our efforts to amend. Wood may make us think, because despair is a constant stalker of the bravest of warriors against the destruction of the planet and the chronic toll of human evil. When compassion becomes a disabling burden, who or what can help?
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Happy 400th anniversary First Folio, Shakespeare's legacy to the world
- Warwick McFadyen
- 16 November 2023
2 Comments
The First Folio was published in November 1623. Shakespeare didn’t live to see his plays gathered together in the one place. His universe of words, his meteors of wit and description, his galaxy of human frailties and strengths, his shrouds of darkness and rays of light, were collected and bound by colleagues after his death in 1616, aged 52. The world owes them profound gratitude.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Apollo (Metamorphosis)
- John Kinsella
- 16 November 2023
I don’t expect to find the leaves of a plant with your name formed by the veins. No god will have gifted you the future as a flower when flowers are losing their footholds.
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AUSTRALIA

Backwards to go forwards
- Barry Gittins
- 16 November 2023
6 Comments
How should our nation reckon with its colonial history and its lasting impact on contemporary society? From the stark realities of early settlement to the enduring legacies of injustice towards Indigenous peoples, this piece explores what it means for a country to grapple with its identity amidst a backdrop of change.
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RELIGION

Theology goes out with the tide
- Andrew Hamilton
- 16 November 2023
10 Comments
In a recent letter, Pope Francis articulated a controversial vision for an active theology in the Catholic Church, which should be open, outgoing, working at the frontiers of church, rather than self-referential and inward-turning. Naturally, this has raised important questions around the proper place and role of theology.
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INTERNATIONAL

Shifting views of Israel and Palestine
- Teresa Pirola
- 16 November 2023
5 Comments
I am on a study tour of Israel and Palestinian Territories. It is my eighth visit over 12 years, and each time I come away with less clarity and more questions about the tensions that plague this tiny land. Who is the oppressor? Who is the oppressed? It all depends upon the lens you look through at any given moment. (From 2019)
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RELIGION

The doubts of the five cardinals
- Bill Uren
- 16 November 2023
7 Comments
Just two days before the opening of the recently concluded Synod on Synodality, five senior Cardinals — German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, United States Cardinal Raymond Burke, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen and Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval Ìñiguez — brought to public notice the five ‘Dubia’ (Doubts).
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AUSTRALIA

The pain of shopping
- Michele Frankeni
- 14 November 2023
As Christmas (aka for many the season of shopping) fast approaches, it’s perhaps time to articulate an unpleasant truth: shopping is not a relaxing or pleasurable experience. In fact, it can be downright masochistic. Somehow as consumers we’ve been conned into accepting that all large stores need to do is be the repository for goods for sale.
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RELIGION

Religion and politics Sydney-style
- John Warhurst
- 14 November 2023
11 Comments
Religion and politics are frequent bedfellows. Despite many clerics and bishops holding strong political views, and many lay Catholics being active within political parties, the successful embrace of synodality depends upon finding middle ground, and leaders who respect a diversity of views.
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INTERNATIONAL

Until handsome becomes cool again
- Jeremy Clarke
- 13 November 2023
8 Comments
In a global landscape increasingly marked by fluid alliances, Prime Minister Albanese's diplomatic foray from Washington to Beijing had the dual aim of warming frosty relations with China and reinforcing the significance of foundational ties. This is not merely diplomatic choreography; it’s a story of Australia redefining its place in a complex global narrative.
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Vol 33 No 22