Take some time this weekend to delve a bit deeper and enjoy these long reads.
Fear of a black president – Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic)
As a candidate, Barack Obama said we needed to reckon with race and with America’s original sin, slavery. But as our first black president, he has avoided mention of race almost entirely. In having to be “twice as good” and “half as black,” Obama reveals the false promise and double standard of integration.
Let’s be friends – Ryan Lizza (The New Yorker)
Flattered by the attention, Clinton now has an incentive to work hard for Obama, who seems to have finally learned how to tame the former President.
Harking back to our piece from Liam Hogan, here is a further look at the issue of high speed rail for Australia.
Fast times, fast trains (Catch up, Australia!) – Gordon Weiss (The Global Mail)
If we start digging today, Australia will only be 50 years behind other advanced economies in laying down an amazingly sensible piece of infrastructure, the High-Speed Train. New South Wales yesterday released a master transport plan which did, at least, mention it — as something to “study”, or even in future “consider”.
With the renewed attention – and Jonathonio’s piece here on Limited News – on mining magnate Gina Rinehart this week it’s worth revisiting this feature on her from earlier this year.
The Iron Lady – Jane Cadzow (Sydney Morning Herald)
She’s the richest Australian in history, and could well become the richest individual in the world, but have her billions made Gina Rinehart happy? Jane Cadzow talks to the mining magnate’s friends, foes and political associates to reveal a complicated woman with a surprisingly unenviable life.
