Indonesian Asylum-Seekers Sent Home...

A group of 62 Indonesian asylum-seekers who were intercepted north of Broome of the north-west coast of Australia back in September 2009 have been sent back to Indonesia. The 62 men were moved to the Christmas Island detention / refugee processing centre.

After processing their claims, it has been determined that none of them meet Australia's strict criteria for asylum. According to the Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, there was nothing that these individuals were claiming that would trigger any obligation incumbent on Australia with respect to protection. They also failed to meet any criteria to be classified as refugees under the Refugee Convention.

All of them claimed to hail from Java.

Once again, according to the minister, Australia does not issue protection visas or refugee status to those only seeking "better economic opportunities". The group 'voluntarily' returned to Indonesia.

Australia and Indonesia have a long history with respect to Indonesians seeking asylum or refugee status in Australia. The above cartoon reflects a little of that history, and can be found here.

Two-Faced Kitten

Deformities or abnormalities always make sensational news stories and it does not just have to be human beings. Animal deformities also peak human interest. This is the case with a very recent birth of a two-faced kitten in Western Australia. The scientific term most closely linked to this would be polycephaly or having more than one head. Not sure of what the term is for having two faces (maybe one of my readers can help out on this front).

People seem to be fascinated with differences.

The cat has survived a night on the outside and by all accounts this is a good sign. However, only one of the mouths eats food. Yet, both faces have the ability to meow and apparently meow in unison. This is not the first time a two-faced kitten has been born and it is not even the first time this year. There were reports earlier in the year of two-faced kittens being born in Texas and Ohio.

It seems that the story has been picked up by international news agencies. The story has been reported by Fox News in the US and also by The Telegraph in the UK.

Update:

The kitten has reportedly died.

Honouring Heath Ledger

The question of what is a fitting tribute to Heath Ledger has split the art's community of Perth. The Western Australian Premier, Alan Carpenter, has indicated that the State intends to re-name the Northbridge Center after the recently deceased actor and current star of the latest installment in the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight.

Heath Ledger was a young actor and he was making his name on the big screen and not in the theatre. This seems to be the gist of the arguments against naming a theatre after Ledger. Nevertheless, Ledger was an actor and he was an actor that was gaining increasingly good reviews of his work. He will be forever remembered for his role in Brokeback Mountain. However, there is increasing talk that his performance in The Dark Knight is superb and worthy of awards.

Some of the arguments against naming the theatre after Ledger take aim at his personal life and question whether or not he was a good enough role model. It would be interesting to see where those arguments might lead. Ledger died of a drug overdose. This was subsequently ruled to be an accident. If anything this tragedy should highlight the dangers of self-medicating with prescription medications. Ledger, if anything, was guilty of being naive and failing to understand the inherent dangers in mixing medications. But a bad role model? I guess that is a matter of opinion.

For me, I hope they stick to naming the theatre after Ledger. It might just be what the theatre community needs. The memory of a young man who was dedicated to his craft, one who was getting better each time he came to ply his trade, and one who may have one day done more stage work, might just be the incentive to attract more young West Australians to the theatre.

But then again what do I know about theatre or film other than watching it? Not a lot! Yet, I do think it is a fitting tribute to a fine Australian export to the world.