Dreamer Easy

Can Trump really stage a coup? Experts weigh in on whether it's possible (Salon, 11 November 2020). Personally I think he's going for the coup, but he could also be whipping up enthusiasm for upcoming Senate races, or just piling up the green via donations.

Physical stress caused by interruptions in workplace (news-medical.net, 28 October 2020). I wonder if this is related to my difficulty in writing at home -- a space with multiple uses, not just for work. (I get a lot done in cafes.)

Let’s Stop Talking about “Battling Cancer” (Scientific American, January 2020). For many patients this metaphor turns their illness into a moral issue.

e.e. cummings' pity this busy monster, manunkind. You know the end of this poem.

But the end of Laura Gilpin's Two-Headed Calf bit me in the soul.

I've been very unwell for a couple of months. I'm so far behind on posting refugee updates that it's hard to imagine catching up completely. But let's see if I can't start with some of the more positive news.

Offshore detention case to be brought to UN against Australian Government as families hope for reunion (ABC, 216 October 2018) The Human Rights Law Centre argues that separating families is illegal under international law.

Manus Island refugees and asylum seekers petition PNG chief justice over 'unfair' delay (GA, 3 October 2018). "Crucial judgment could allow group to seek compensation and the chance to be resettled in other countries."

'The sky doesn't fall in': refugees integrate well in Australia, survey finds (GA, 14 August 2018). "Contrary to recent comments from the multicultural affairs minister, Alan Tudge, that migrants who reside together “largely communicate in their mother tongue [and] are slower integrating”, the research found that refugees were welcomed by their new communities, found it “easy” to get along, and felt a strong sense of belonging to their new homes."

The project Pauline Hanson called a ‘disgrace’ just proved her wrong (GA, 3 August 2018). "Extremists claimed that Syrian refugees would increase crime and fear in Eltham. The opposite happened."

Meanwhile Up Over: Trump Administration Rejects Study Showing Positive Impact of Refugees (New York Times, 18 September 2018). "[A] study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found that refugees brought in $63 billion more in government revenues over the past decade than they cost."

(I apologise if you hit paywalls with any of these links. Most news sites let you view at least some stories for free.)

Conflicting messages from President Trump and the White House have left both the Australian government and refugees on Manus and Nauru bewildered about the fate of Australia's refugee deal with the US. Refugee advocates have called for the government to evacuate the camps immediately.

Close Manus and Nauru, bring refugees here say 70 organisations (GA, 3 February 2017)

Teen refugee attempts suicide on Nauru after Trump executive order (SBS, 29 January 2017)

'Although we are alive, we are dead inside': Refugees despair at on-off US resettlement deal (SMH, 2 February 2017)

Uncertainty over US deal 'torturing' refugees in Australian camps (GA, 3 February 2017)

Donald Trump refugee deal comments spark anger among Manus refugees and residents (ABC, 3 February 2017)

Manus refugees await US resettlement deal (The Saturday Paper, 4 February 2017) "After three years, those in our offshore detention camps have learnt to distrust the news. On their phones, it comes in waves. The waves are many and contradictory – bringing hope and despair; clarity and confusion. The sum is a permanent disorientation."

US could resettle zero refugees from Manus and Nauru and still 'honour' deal (GA, 31 January 2017): "Terms of agreement do not commit US to taking a single refugee, and Trump’s ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries exclude majority of Australia’s detainees."

Malcolm Turnbull should walk away from refugee deal (ABC, 3 February 2017) "... the road Mr Turnbull now has Australia travelling — that of the supplicant — is against our national interest."

President Trump's executive order temporarily suspending the intake of refugees and indefinitely prohibiting entry by Syrians will have terrible consequences, particularly for families who were poised to enter the US and safety. (A nation-wide stay on the order was granted by a judge yesterday.)

Refugees are already vigorously vetted. I know because I vetted them. (Washington Post, 1 February 2017) "A former immigration officer describes the long, grueling process of gaining refugee status in the United States."

Systematic racism, dehumanisation and Islamophobia (The Saturday Paper, 4 February 2017). "Donald Trump's executive order is the active exoneration of the role that the United States has played in creating dangerous precedents in eroding the civil liberties and human rights of particular sections of society, as well as the responsibility for destabilising a whole region and creating the refugee crisis we see today. This instant memory loss will hurt some of the most vulnerable people in this world, people who have fallen victim to decades of ineffective military strategy."

The Statue of Liberty Weeps as President Trump Targets Mexicans and Muslims (Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, 25 January 2017) | Anne Frank and her family were also denied entry as refugees to the U.S. (Washington Post, 24 November 2015)