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The nazi walked straight in because, back then, there was no security.
He started ranting.
A story I'd written about racist anti-Asian graffiti at a university had identified someone else as the leader of his group when, he said, he was actually the fuhrer.
This went on for a few minutes until another journalist - Malcolm, a big bloke famous for his excellent writing, eccentricity and tossing a typewriter out the window of the police rounds room - intervened.
"Who cares who your bloody leader is?" he thundered. "How are we meant to know you've had a night of the long knives among your three members? Now. Get. Out."
The brownshirt wannabe fled. I thanked Malcolm and the newsroom resumed its clatter of typewriters as deadline time approached.
This encounter happened in the early 1980s, before security and workplace health and safety were even twinkles in management's eyes. Email didn't exist. Nor did social media. Push-button phones were still novel.
These days, such an incursion would be a major breach.
Nowadays, fanatics, bigots and the downright deranged tend to lurk behind keyboards, spewing their bile on social media - Twitter, we're watching you.
It's when they emerge from their digital caves, like the mass murderers (I refuse to name them) in Norway and Christchurch, that we have to worry.
The rants are red flags. They should be reported, which is exactly what the ABC did after a hateful, racist email turned up in Indigenous sports presenter and former AFL player Tony Armstrong's inbox.
The author had taken issue with comments Armstrong had made on The Project about Gina Armstrong remaining mute on her father's racism towards Indigenous Australians. In mispelt words which suggested he'd learnt to write with a spraycan and had recently spent time in jail, the email's author called Armstrong "filthy scum" and an "uneducated dog".
Rich coming from someone so demonstrably inarticulate.
If this idiot thought he'd cower Armstrong, he's wrong. The presenter made it clear he'll not be silenced in speaking up for Indigenous Australians. Nor should he be.
Coming in a week when the nation is reeling from the death of 15-year-old Indigenous boy Cassius Turvey, set upon as he walked home from school, the toxic spray shows we have a long way to go to heal this country.
They still walk among us, these people who count themselves as some kind of master race. We still elect them to parliament. We see their nonsense published in some major newspapers, its underlying bigotry thinly veiled by spurious arguments about why there shouldn't be an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. We hear it from fossilised former political leaders who bridle at what they call a "black armband" view of our history.
It's time to move on.
That's why, just as most of us are standing with the family and friends of Cassius Turvey, we should also stand with Tony Armstrong.
HAVE YOUR SAY: When you hear racist remarks, do you challenge them? Should the author of the racist email face some kind of penalty? Will we ever overcome racism? How? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- A top spy chief has warned "very alarming signs" in Australia's backyard could see the country's intelligence agencies rise in the global pecking order as the Five Eyes alliance turns its focus to China. Australian Secret Intelligence Service director-general Paul Symon, who is set to retire this year, also said politicians on all sides were beginning to understand there was "no turning back" on budget commitments for national security.
- Sydney's Taronga Zoo is conducting a full review into "a significant incident" after five lions escaped their enclosure, sparking an emergency lockdown at the iconic tourist attraction. Zoo executive director Simon Duffy said one adult lion and four cubs were spotted outside their main enclosure at 6:30am Wednesday - but did not get past the second 1.8-metre fence that separates them from the rest of the zoo.
- A month after its earlier than expected launch, and as inflation continues to batter the housing market, 364 regional Australians have taken advantage of the Albanese government's regional first home buyers' support scheme. The pledge to assist an extra 10,000 first home buyers a year under the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee was due to start next January, but was brought forward to October 1.
THEY SAID IT: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
YOU SAID IT: The questions about annoying words and phrases triggered an avalanche, possibly the most comments over a topic The Echidna has seen. Sadly, we can't fit them all in.
Bron says: "From the get-go. Drives me crazy. What happened to 'start'?"
Rob says, "I don't like 'moving forward' especially when it seems to automatically come out of my mouth. Are we all in 'agreeance' on that?" Aaargh!
Bruce, who describes himself as an old grump who learnt a bit of grammar at school, shares his hit list: "I am extremely annoyed by 'so as to', the conjunction used when they don't know which one to use. Utterly meaningless, therefore safe. Another one is 'amount' when it should be 'number' i.e. countable. An amount of people suggests that at least some of them are amputees. Similarly, I'm annoyed by 'less' when it should be 'fewer'." That last one gets me too. If you measure it, it's "less"; if you count it, it's "fewer".
Liz's pet hate: "'Talk to me about, rather than 'tell me about' during an interview. Drives me bonkers!"
Charles has a plea: "There has been an uptick in the use of 'greenlighted' or 'greenlit' instead of 'approved'. Please, Echidna, could you ensure that, moving forward, greenlit is redlit by ACM publications?"
Like many of you, Ruth is no fan of "reach out". "Why not just 'ask'?"
Rebecca says, "Surely I'm not the only one who noticed how invasive 'pivot' has become in our workplaces. Just say 'change'. At the moment, I'm hearing 'step change' much too often. Again, 'change' will do. And then there is the nauseating 'I'm loving it/that/something' - usually referring to a product or some other silly unlovable thing. Thanks for this conversation on our least favourite words. Geez, they can get under the skin, can't they?"
A missive from Annabel: "Good lord, today's column reads like the rantings of an old sod [that's me]. The English language is in a constant state of evolution. Always has and always will. Words are created and morphed to suit the time, shorthand for common understanding. Of course 'new normal' doesn't make sense, but in the last 12 months has become shorthand for 'Gosh, this is all a bit strange and unusual and potentially scary in as we learn to live in a world with COVID and vaccines.' Evolution of language binds us together in shared experience, whether positive or negative (eg, the use of woke as lazy, pejorative term). Lamenting the corruption of language is an old man's game." Seems plenty of women are playing it too, Annabel.
Narelle says, "Thanks for reminding me of how many annoying buzzwords and phrases there are. I have two to add to the list - 'leading from the front' is one. Is there any other way to lead? Another pet hate is 'raring to go' instead of 'rearing to go'. I believe the former is now acceptable usage even though it flies in the face of its origin. Happy burrowing, Echidna. Your column is still my favourite go to each morning."
John adds another one: "You forgot 'multiple'. It creeps into so many news bulletins and commentary. Generally, the simple use of the plural word will suffice."
Our man in Saigon, Carl says: "'Thank you for your service'. Real veterans absolutely hate this expression."
And, finally, Jim: "How about 'legend', applied to all and sundry who runs, swims or hits a ball in one way or another. And don't get me started on 'would of', 'could of' or 'should of'. Keep up the good work, Legend." Er, thanks, Jim.