Writing all the way from Alice Springs, Jennifer Mills explains why an Obama victory is written in the stars. I won't even try to summarise it. Go read it yourself by clicking here.
Writing all the way from Sderot in Israel, Mustafa Qadri tells us about an Israeli town that is trying to cope with a barrage of Palestinian rocket attacks.
As I walked around Sderot, I could hear the intermittent boom of Israeli jets thundering over Gaza in the distance. Although physically separated there is no mistaking that Gaza and Sderot are linked.
"Well, it's sad to say but we [residents of Gaza and Sderot] share a common pain," Eric tells me. "We don't feel that we're bringing up our families in a safe environment and the economy here is deteriorating because people do not want to invest in areas that are conflict zones."
Read more here and discover why Qadri should give international law the flick (not that he's a bad lawyer) and consider becoming a foreign correspondent.
And writing from Canberra, Shakira Hussein provides some background on PM Kevin Rudd's refusal to hold a government inquiry into the Exclusive Brethren. She explains why she basically agrees with Kevin-07.
An inquiry that focuses on the Brethren will stigmatise all those who belong to the group, including those who may struggle with the direction the current leadership has taken. It is likely to make the group close in on itself, rather than let in any fresh air.
To be clear, specific problems like the flouting of family law orders should absolutely not be tolerated, but be treated like any other such abuse. But on a broader level, there needs to be a rethink of the way that government funding has empowered exclusivist religious institutions at the expense of social and religious pluralism.
You can read more here.
Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf
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