Come the Revolution – Alex Mitchell
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In search of solitude
Half a lifetime ago I set out for Colombia in search of the historical background to One Hundred Years of Solitude, the novel by the great Gabriel Garcia Marquez. What I found was an unforgettable lesson about truth and fiction. Prompted by the sad news that Garcia Marquez will write no more – he has…
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The IMF’s howler: Millions in poverty
The IMF’s howler: Millions in poverty To the millions of pauperised citizens of Europe, there has been an unprecedented admission of guilt by the International Monetary Fund (IMF): we got it wrong. In a New Year report entitled “Growth Forecast Errors and Fiscal Multipliers”, the IMF admitted that it had plunged nations of the Euro-zone…
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School massacre, guns and reality
You’d need a heart of stone not to be moved by the outpouring of grief over the shooting of 20 children at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. However, the wall-to-wall coverage in the media in the US and here has been over-indulgent, ghoulishly invasive and gratuitously suspect. It’s as if the classroom massacre has…
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The world on our doorstep
I’ve just been to Brisbane to see the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art – APT for short. The Queensland Art Gallery initiated the project almost 20 years ago, and it remains the only major gallery exhibition series in the world devoted to Asian contemporary art. When I first visited Brisbane back in 1986 it…
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Our man at the Drill Hall
My good friend Terence Maloon, who curated some of the finest exhibitions of recent years at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, has just been appointed director of the Drill Hall gallery at the Australian National University. He has been welcomed in the Canberra Times with a perceptive interview by Ron Cerabona. In discussing…
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Who drove nurse to commit suicide?
An official inquiry in London has vowed to leave no stone unturned in investigating all the circumstances of the suicide of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, the 46-year-old mother of two. What unbearable pressure was placed on Mrs Saldanha after she unwittingly transferred a prank call from a Sydney radio station to the ward where Mrs Kate…
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Looking for Garcia Marquez
Half a lifetime ago, when I was a student, I went to Colombia in search of the historical background to the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. Recently there came news that there will be no more books from its author, the great Gabriel García Márquez. I’ve been moved to write an account of my…
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NSW Labor’s revival starts at the Radisson
Sam Dastyari has two jobs: general secretary of the NSW Labor Party and head honcho of the state branch of the right-wing faction known as Centre Unity. How do I know? I’ve received an email invitation from Dastyari to the 2012 Centre Unity Christmas Party on Tuesday, December 18, starting at 6pm. The card ends…
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Never mind Greece, what about France?
Eurozone finance ministers did a deal earlier this week to make a partial reduction in Greece’s debt and permit an 11th-hour, 34bn euro bailout. But the deal, presented as a win-win for Greece and its creditors, depends on Athens borrowing a further 14bn euros to finance a bond buyback scheme that the Greek finance sector…
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Historic win for Palestine
Palestinians always knew that their culture, history and land constituted an independent, sovereign state. Nevertheless, they will celebrate the UN General Assembly vote that officially recognises their statehood and are entitled to do so. Recognition has taken decades and the struggle has taken thousands of lives. The Israeli regime declared through its propaganda foghorn that…
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