“Having a boarding pass in my hand for the first time in my life was so marvellous, in a way that cannot be imagined. The first words I heard after stepping onto US soil were, ‘Welcome to America.’ I cried when the immigration officer said that to me. It was all I ever wanted to hear.”
When the author was offered settlement in the US, he felt as if he held the full moon in his hands. After more than four years on Manus Island, he is now living in Chicago, and feels he is home.
News
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Inside the NAIF conflict machine
“Officials revealed that in the first 19 months of the organisation’s operation, board members declared 33 conflicts in relation to 23 separate projects.”
Two years since its launch, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility has approved only four loans and is beset by at least 33 conflict-of-interest declarations.
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Sexual consent laws review not enough
While the NSW government has announced a review of sexual consent laws, many believe the system that deals with sexual offences and their prosecution is in need of a complete overhaul.
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The new head of the government’s ABC efficiency review is not as right-wing as some may fear. Still, his appointment suggests an agenda to further muzzle the broadcaster’s independent voice.
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“An extraordinary array of expertise was brought to bear upon the rescue mission. We have also a brilliant precedent for cooperation and courage.”
Miraculous good fortune came into play to locate the missing members of a Thai soccer team, trapped with their coach deep underground. Then, as the world held its breath, it took extraordinary expertise and cooperation to extricate them.
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Foreign secretary Boris Johnson quits over Brexit
Donald Trump’s in Europe for NATO summit; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s new start for Turkey; US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo goes to Pyongyang.
Opinion
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Nyadol Nyuon
How racism diminishes humanity
“These are the stories of our lives and they are being written without any chance for us to control or influence them. We are pawns in a larger game. That is the shameful carelessness of racism – some people are viewed simply as a means to an end. For politicians, we are not people with lives, with children whose dignity and worth we seek to preserve, with loved ones who will be denied employment, with mothers who will be called “black dogs” while going to a shopping centre, with brothers who are afraid they will be mistaken for gang members when they are out with their friends. To these politicians we are not people. We are not even fellow citizens.”
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Sean Kelly
Political attention seekers to the fore
“I have just returned to Australia from some months spent in London, and it was something of a shock to return to all this. Howard fighting culture wars, Hanson pulling stunts, Latham yelling – oh, and there was Abbott, too, trying to tear down a leader by talking about climate change. What was this hellish time machine that had somehow managed to gather together the worst bits of all recent eras? Beyond the generalised horror, two things struck me. The first was not a surprise but was more depressing for the recent distance: this is Australian politics now. A constant parade of novelty and spectacle; anything for attention.”
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While Theresa May’s government was tottering on the brink of fracture, the toffs were at the Henley Royal Regatta quaffing champagne and Pimm’s from the boots of Range Rovers and Bentleys, rather in the manner of the shickered crowds that gather in Melbourne Cup marquees. Gadfly’s invitation must have been lost in the post, but fortunately our field agent was on hand.
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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On Twitter he is “Real Mark Latham”, as if the rest of the time it was an act. Unmasked, he is a Rivers catalogue of cruel misogyny and transphobic venom, a man who wears wraparound sunglasses and believes brown is colourful. He mocks schoolchildren and working mothers, disbelieves psychiatry and demands that everyone speak English. Mark Latham is a gout on our politics. But the whole Falstaffian body is set with pox. It is a picture of sad urges and failing organs. Its ills trace back to men such as Mark, to the basement out of which he now broadcasts, but they do not end there.
Culture
French conceptual artist Daniel Buren
French conceptual artist Daniel Buren continues to charm and engage with his quiet, contagious ways of seeing the world in stripes. “My biography is very simple: Daniel Buren. Born 25 March, ’38. Works and lives in situ.”
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ much-hyped Gloria is well executed by MTC, but its pretensions outweigh its eminence.
“‘I grew up identifying mostly as Filipino–Australian, as our Wiradjuri history and culture felt slightly removed from us. We’ve had to fight to learn it,’ Mojo Juju tells me, cutting to the core of what this album means to her. ‘It’s important to me that I am not misunderstood or seen to be taking away the spotlight from anyone who has grown up deeply connected to their culture. I want to be respectful of other Indigenous voices.’”
Food
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Gnocchi Parisienne with roasted pumpkin and sage butter
“I think the basic technique of choux pastry is a prime example of why cooking never loses its shine for me. It reminds me of the continuous mirror images that fascinated me as a child, a constantly repeating effect. But with choux it is always tumbling and turning and becoming something slightly different but equally delicious.”
Life
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One chef’s battle to rebalance the scales
For one half of The Saturday Paper’s food editing team, the gruelling hours and stressful conditions of cooking for others eventually took its toll – both mentally and physically. Then she decided it was time to regain control.
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The pressures of living with sick or disabled siblings
While children with a disability or chronic illness are seen as being in need of support, their siblings may be left struggling to cope with their complex family dynamic.
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Gaming machine: Brandon ‘Claire’ Nguyen, 20, eSports player
Brandon “Claire” Nguyen on giving up a ‘normal life’ for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play eSports full-time.
Books
The Quiz
1. Which four actresses are featured in the documentary Nothing Like a Dame (aka Tea with the Dames)?
2. Reigning champions Germany were knocked out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup following a loss to which country?
3. Which hit song features the lines, “Darkness falls across the land/ The midnight hour is close at hand”? (Bonus point for naming who delivered those lines.)
4. How many hearts does an octopus have?
5. Which city hosted the 1992 Olympics Games?
6. Who wrote the 1949 treatise The Second Sex?
7. Folate belongs to which vitamin family?
8. Who is commonly known as the Father of Mathematics?
9. What was Robert Pershing Wadlow’s claim to fame?
10. The Kingdom of eSwatini was formerly known as what?
Quotes
MINING
“You wouldn’t get approval to mine asbestos so why do State Governments approve of brothels?”
The former head of the Australian Christian Lobby confuses sex work with mesothelioma. In fairness, there’s little difference between sleeping with Lyle and rubbing yourself against a dusty piece of carcinogenic drywall.
PARENTING
“He is clearly a natural with the Glock 17.”
The South Australian senator shares a photo of his son’s shooting practice. This is the same man who worries that children might be taught sex education.
MUSIC
“Fucking private school stupid fuckhead motherfucker.”
The entertainer confronts a man who threw a beer can at him at the Duck Creek Picnic Races. If there is anything more toxically Australian than a talent quest runner-up threatening to “fuck your missus and your mum” over the opening strains of Daryl Braithwaite’s “The Horses”, it probably involves blackface.
DEATHS
“Vale.”
The Indigenous leader marks the death of a Japanese tourist who lost consciousness while climbing Uluru, against the wishes of its traditional owners. Later, she congratulated a pride of lions for eating a poacher #TeamLions.
POLITICS
“He was expecting a full breakfast and there were only pastries and cheese.”
The White House press secretary explains why chief of staff John Kelly looked so incredulous during a NATO speech by President Donald Trump. It was either that or the weird stuff about Germany.
TECHNOLOGY
“The fine sends a clear signal that I consider this a significant issue.”
Britain’s Information Commissioner threatens Facebook with a £500,000 ($A895,000) fine for failing to prevent data from up to 87 million people being misused by Cambridge Analytica. The fine is equivalent to about seven minutes’ revenue, or the time an average person spends trying to stop autoplay videos each day.
