“There were only 12 parties - that is four per year over three years”
— Dominique Strauss-Kahn (former head of the IMF, on trial in France for aiding and assisting prostitution), on his reasonable and proportionate orgy schedule
Home | Mind the gap
THE GIST. The seventh annual 'Closing the Gap' report was released yesterday, detailing the progress (or lack thereof) made in improving education, employment and health outcomes of indigenous Australians.
THE REPORT. The report is mostly bad news: of the seven broad targets set, only two are 'on track' for success (infant mortality and year 12 attainment). The life expectancy, literacy and numeracy and employment 'gaps' have all either gotten worse or there hasn't been any improvement.
THE REACTION. In his address to Parliament, Tony Abbott said the report was "profoundly disappointing." The chair of the PM's indigenous advisory council, Warren Mundine, said "we are slipping and we are going backwards."
THE POLITICS. Bill Shorten accused the government of making things worse for indigenous people by cutting $500 million from various services. Government MPs didn't appreciate being criticised over a policy area that usually has 'bipartisan' support, and staged a walk-out during Shorten's speech.
Abroad | New Dehli
THE GIST. The Aam Aadami Party (AAP) has claimed a surprise win in the Dehli election, beating the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (BJP). The party's leader, Arind Kejriwal, said he wants to "make Dehli a city which both poor and rich will feel proud of."
AAP. The AAP is seen as the 'anti-corruption' party. Kerjriwal was actually elected Chief Minister of Dehli back in 2013, but resigned after just 49 days on the job, when the opposition blocked his attempt to create an independent body to investigate corrupt politicians.
CAMPAIGNING & CHAMPAGNING. The election win was an unexpected comeback victory for the AAP, after getting trounced by the BJP a year ago. Dehli voters are apparently tired of BJP's "arrogance of power". It also helped that AAP has made a lot of attractive promises, like providing free water to every household and building new schools, colleges and public toilets.
Small-talk
Matriarchal match. A Brazilian soccer club has enlisted its fans' mothers to help prevent fighting amongst the spectators. The mothers patrol the sidelines, wearing high-visibility vests emblazoned with "Security Mum" in Portugese.
Alarmed, not alert. A Canadian Muslim man was wrongfully arrested after sending a text message urging his contacts to "blow away" unspecified persons. The authorities failed to realise that the man, who is a sales manager, was just encouraging his employees to blow away the 'competition' at an upcoming trade show. Before this fact surfaced, the cops stormed the guy's home and told his wife she was married to a terrorist.
The Next Episode. Snoop Dogg, rapper-entrepreneur and noted marijuana enthusiast, is reportedly trying to raise $25 million to invest 'weed startups'. The legalisation of the drug is creating all kinds of business opportunities, and accordingly the man who gave us such verseas "This weed iz mine / You can't have it / This weed iz mine", is developing a much more distributive worldview. Art corrupted by capitalism, once again.
The word
Propitious Adj. Indicating a good chance of succcess: Given how many billions of euros Greece effectively owes Germany right now, you wouldn't exactly call it a propitious time for the new Greek government to be demanding payment of disputed World War II reparations. But they tried. It did not go well.
