Keywords: Christmas Story
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RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 18 July 2013
31 Comments
When policies affect people's lives, imaginative intelligence should come first into play. It is the inclination to see people, not simply as the objects of policy, but as persons each with their own face and life story. The Pope exemplified this when he visited Lampedusa, 'Italy's Christmas Island', to mourn the dead and console the living. And in so doing he stated the priority for others.
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AUSTRALIA
On Friday, Fairfax reported on another ordeal at sea, over ten days between 27 April and 7 May. Only two people died, but the toll could easily have been far worse. The story as we know it so far raises disturbing questions about Australia’s adherence to its rescue-at-sea obligations.
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AUSTRALIA
- Bronwyn Lay
- 12 December 2011
3 Comments
The EU was a panacea for Europe's nationalist and imperial history. All hope was pinned on the euro as the saviour able to transcend internal differences. As Christmas approaches, the air feels fragile. Winter will be frugal. Death and disintegration are constantly on the European mind.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 29 June 2011
14 Comments
The media are not indulging in fantasies, but feeding off rumours around Parliament House and gossip from within Labor. The message is that Gillard has until Christmas to improve the party's standing. But the party has bigger problems than an unpopular leader.
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AUSTRALIA
- Irfan Yusuf
- 22 December 2010
17 Comments
Jesus was born into a family of internal refugees. His mother had to seek refuge, fleeing Herod's nasty dictatorship. It's uncertain whether she used the services of satanic people smugglers.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Tony Kevin
- 20 December 2010
23 Comments
It is curious and sad that in weeks when our media are celebrating WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, we can accept so easily a government-managed story, whose public accountability obligation stares us in the face. Perhaps because editors know that our complacent society really does not want to go there.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Duncan MacLaren
- 13 December 2010
3 Comments
Outside: the fish factory that never sleeps. The people working in it are illegal migrants, paid a pittance and treated as sub humans. Only the strong return from the fishing trips. If you are ill and cannot work, you can be tipped into the sea along with the other rubbish for the seagulls.
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AUSTRALIA
- Sarah Kanowski
- 15 November 2010
6 Comments
Buying and selling has shaped history. Alongside goods, new ideas and practices get exchanged, leading to the creation of remarkable civilisations. My young daughter and I recently caught a bus into the city to do some shopping. A mundane errand was transformed into something magical.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 20 April 2009
9 Comments
The military misadventures of nations
including Australia contribute greatly to the motivation of
asylum seekers. Australian immigration policy must de-emphasise border protection in favour of being a 'good international citizen'.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Dorothy A. Lee
- 23 December 2008
6 Comments
Feminist biblical scholars ask two fundamental questions of the biblical nativity story. First they ask how female characters
are portrayed.
Second, they ask how these biblical myths can be reinterpreted in a woman-friendly (rather than misogynist) way.
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ECONOMICS
- Margaret Rice
- 16 December 2008
3 Comments
This time of year is marked by a fraught pre-Christmas anxiety, exacerbated this year by the economic crisis. My daughter Rachel lost her part-time job last week.
Her loss is slight compared to her employer's, a young mother who
works in the finance industry.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Andrew Hamilton
- 27 February 2007
3 Comments
When we think of the rise and rise of Santa Claus, we might ask whether King Haakon was bringing a Trojan horse into the Christian camp when he brought Yuletide into Christmas. But he had good precedents. Outsiders continue to be important in retelling the Christmas story. This Christmas, Jan Egeland steps down as head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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