Ministeroni

Weddings legalised for Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in New Zealand (ABC, 1 March 2016) These guys aren't just in danger of becoming an actual religion - they already are one! Check back in twenty years and see if there hasn't been at least factional in-fighting.

Refugee Update

Vast majority of boat arrivals in past 40 years given refugee protection (GA, 1 March 2016) "Data shows 80% protection rate markedly different from determinations made in Nauru or Manus Island centres."

Military camp ethos prevails in a Maribyrnong detention centre run on fear (29 February 2016)

Nauru and Manus Island are Australia's Guantanamo Bay (SMH, 28 February 2016). A cautious but convincing comparison of the Australian and US detention centres.

Arguing online or offline? Make use of the Refugee Council of Australia's quick mythbuster and detailed mythbuster fact sheets.

Catching up on links:

Maribyrnong detention centre: 'They just kept pushing down' (SMH, 14 February, 2015)

FactCheck: did 1200 refugees die at sea under Labor? (The Conversation, 3 March 2015). Using "the best available data", this is "broadly correct", with about 1100 drownings under Labor and somewhere between 400 and 760 drownings under the Coalition. (I hope that the apparent cessation of drownings is genuine, and not an artifact of the current government's policy of secrecy, especially given our unsafe policy of turning boats back.)