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Weekly feature

Towards an earth-friendly legal system
by Peter D. Burdon
The law does not protect the natural world from destruction, but
supports its destruction. The effect of regulation is that if a company
ticks the right boxes and stays within the prescribed
boundaries, its activity is acceptable.
Read more
From the vault
Popular
The most expensive bananas in Thailand
Harry Nicolaides 09-Jun-2009
Harry Nicolaides was a prisoner at Bangkok Remand
Prison from September 2008 to February 2009, held on charges of lèse majesté. There he met Benny Moafi, who is serving a 22-year sentence for a crime he did not commit.
The 'bad eggs' of Ireland's abuse scandal
Frank O'Shea 05-Jun-2009
After a lifetime in schools run by
religious orders, I am appalled to think abuse against children in institutions in Ireland was 'endemic'. I try to persuade myself that 'Brendan', the saintliest man I ever knew, cancels out the bad eggs.
The decline of Christianity in Australia and America
Peter Kirkwood 12-Jun-2009
In the Rudd/Obama era there are new parallels and convergences with regard to religion in Australia and the US. The figures may be on the slide, but rumours of the death of Christianity are greatly exaggerated.
Life of a 'geologian'
Paul Collins 11-Jun-2009
Thomas Berry (1914-2009), Catholicism's most significant thinker in ecological theology, argued that religion had failed to provide a way of making sense of the cosmos. Christians oppose homicide, but have no morality to deal with the killing of the planet.
The rich list of Australian politics
John Warhurst 16-Jun-2009
What can Malcolm Turnbull's place among Australia's richest 200 people tell us about wealth and politics? First and most obviously, that the extremely wealthy almost always get involved on the conservative side.
Historical tensions visit women and the Church
Andrew Hamilton 18-Jun-2009
Many women religious fear the Vatican visitation of female religious congregations will take a negative attitude to feminist aspirations and to the changes brought about by Vatican II. They can find historical grounds for this fear.
Ryan Report: crimes of the 'human' Church
Julian Butler 15-Jun-2009
Eventually the Vatican will have to stand in solidarity with the
victims of abuse. The Church is
capable of acting well and badly. To separate individuals from the Church diminishes the responsibility of the whole body.
Cousins, Chaser and the court of public morality
Andrew Hamilton 15-Jun-2009
What do footballers who give photographers the bird, comedians who make
jokes about sick children, boat owners who bring asylum seekers to
Australian shores, cooks who swear, and cricketers who drink have in
common?
Michael Jackson's tragic gift
Tim Kroenert 29-Jun-2009
When celebrities die, public grief is disproportionate, because death reasserts the humanity of one who has seemed beyond
it. Jackson had become so far removed
from his humanity that the shock of his mortality is even more
profound.
Utegate: Wayne Swan's 'marginal crime'
John Warhurst 24-Jun-2009
The Utegate affair has revealed once again that Australian politics at the
federal level is not squeaky clean. Some interests and individuals do
better out of the system than others. But neither is it deeply flawed
and corrupt.
Most Commented
Curry muncher
Roanna Gonsalves 23-Jun-2009
Vincent and I were both international students
from Bombay. He had lived here for a year while I had only arrived
three months ago. We worked in the same Indian restaurant. The night of his attack, Vincent sounded upbeat on the train.
The 'bad eggs' of Ireland's abuse scandal
Frank O'Shea 05-Jun-2009
After a lifetime in schools run by
religious orders, I am appalled to think abuse against children in institutions in Ireland was 'endemic'. I try to persuade myself that 'Brendan', the saintliest man I ever knew, cancels out the bad eggs.
Ryan Report: crimes of the 'human' Church
Julian Butler 15-Jun-2009
Eventually the Vatican will have to stand in solidarity with the
victims of abuse. The Church is
capable of acting well and badly. To separate individuals from the Church diminishes the responsibility of the whole body.
Irish and Indigenous gathering places
Shane Howard with Regina Lane 02-Jul-2009
Five generations ago, rural Irish migrants built and paid for St Brigid's church at Crossley in south-west Victoria. Today, the people of Crossley and Killarney are fighting to save the gathering place from private ownership.
Historical tensions visit women and the Church
Andrew Hamilton 18-Jun-2009
Many women religious fear the Vatican visitation of female religious congregations will take a negative attitude to feminist aspirations and to the changes brought about by Vatican II. They can find historical grounds for this fear.
Why we're losing the war on racism
Saeed Saeed 10-Jun-2009
When discussing racism, the response is as important as the
accusation. The slow response
from police and political leaders to the recent spate of
Indian-bashings demonstrates what can occur when racism is tackled
passively.
Plight of the 'skilled unemployed'
Beth Doherty 22-Jun-2009
After returning home from six months of volunteer work overseas, my
plan was that I would spend a couple of weeks looking, and that after a
few resumés were sent out, the phone calls would start pouring in.
They didn't.
Life of a 'geologian'
Paul Collins 11-Jun-2009
Thomas Berry (1914-2009), Catholicism's most significant thinker in ecological theology, argued that religion had failed to provide a way of making sense of the cosmos. Christians oppose homicide, but have no morality to deal with the killing of the planet.
Utegate: Wayne Swan's 'marginal crime'
John Warhurst 24-Jun-2009
The Utegate affair has revealed once again that Australian politics at the
federal level is not squeaky clean. Some interests and individuals do
better out of the system than others. But neither is it deeply flawed
and corrupt.
South Africa's lesson for post-apartheid Australia
Tim Kroenert 18-Jun-2009
Despite the best wishes of many, we are yet to resolve the injustices that have resulted from White Australia's brand of apartheid. As Disgrace reveals, reconciliation is more than words. There is much fear and anger to overcome.
Retrospective
Bud Tingwell and I
Andrew Hamilton 20-May-2009
I only met Bud Tingwell once. Like so many others, I went away the
better for the brief encounter. But the meeting also led me to ask
questions about what matters, and how we should nurture it in
Australian society.
East Timor's digger friend
Paul Cleary 09-Mar-2009
When East Timor was struggling to get a fair deal in negotiations over Timor Sea oil, Kenneally rallied his mates to fight. Appearing on national television, he told Prime Minister Howard: 'I'd rather you did not come to my ANZAC Day parade.'
Obama's challenge to the Church
Andrew Hamilton 26-Feb-2009
The standard by which the most vocal Catholic Bishops judged Obama was his position on abortion, same sex marriages, and on the use of embryos for
research.
Obama has done the churches a favour by stealing their clothing.
Who cares about students
Fatima Measham 10-Feb-2009
Many of the things that impact upon a teacher's efficacy are beyond their control - the quality of a child's homelife, the politicisation of the curriculum. One thing they can control is much they care, though this may bring new teachers little comfort in the months ahead.
Humanity endures in bushfire tragedy
Andrew Hamilton 09-Feb-2009
During the financial turmoil this summer, images of fire have abounded.
The economy is 'going into meltdown'. Shareholdings 'turn to
ashes'. This weekend's bushfires make us ask instinctively what really matters.
My friend Justice Kirby
Frank Brennan 03-Feb-2009
Prior to convening his own farewell ceremony yesterday, Kirby published his last dissenting judgment, stating Aborigines
should have their day in court over the Intervention. Though respecting tradition, Kirby has long thrived on conflict and change.
Glamour returns to post-war Australia
Madeleine Hamilton 09-Jan-2009
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first showing of Christian Dior's New Look fashion designs in Sydney. After years of wartime material restraints the New Look offered Australian women a fresh way of expressing their individuality and sensuality through fashion. (March 2008)
Life as a game show
Tim Kroenert 18-Dec-2008
Having grown up an orphan in a Mumbai slum, Jamal is an unlikely candidate for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. A sense of the divine pervades the film, but while Jamal seems destined for good fortune, his brother Salim diverges towards corruption.
Zimbabwe's disappeared
Oskar Wermter 17-Dec-2008
Jestina Mukoko was a television presenter, but left to become director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, which has documented many atrocities and crimes of Mugabe's regime. Last week she was abducted by a group of armed agents.
The nun and the burqa
Bronwyn Lay 02-Dec-2008
When Germaine Greer savaged Michelle Obama's dress, I sighed. The 'beauty' market is a challenge to feminism. In France, two extremes of fashion ideology — burqas and plastic-surgery 'mannequins' — line up to buy bread.
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Today's lead
RELIGION
Swine flu and the Eucharist
Andrew Hamilton
The swine flu saga has been of interest mainly because the responses to
it have shown what Australians consider to be important. That is also
true of the response within Australian churches.
4 comment(s) about this article.
Recent leads
COMMUNITY
Irish and Indigenous gathering places
Shane Howard with Regina Lane
Five generations ago, rural Irish migrants built and paid for St Brigid's church at Crossley in south-west Victoria. Today, the people of Crossley and Killarney are fighting to save the gathering place from private ownership.
13 comment(s) about this article.
POLITICS
Migration reform good news at last
Kerry Murphy
'Migration reform' rarely has positive
connotations when dealing with refugees and asylum seekers. As asylum seekers continue to reach Australia by boat, reforms to Labor's immigration policies point to a more just approach.
1 comment(s) about this article.
Turnbull's Utegate mudslide
Michael McVeigh
The biggest casualty in the Ozcar affair appears to be Malcolm Turnbull, whose
approval rating has plummeted. Turnbull is learning that a politician's job security isn't just tied
to their ability to play politics. It's also
linked to their character.
3 comment(s) about this article.
ENVIRONMENT
Towards an earth-friendly legal system
Peter D. Burdon
The law does not protect the natural world from destruction, but
supports its destruction. The effect of regulation is that if a company
ticks the right boxes and stays within the prescribed
boundaries, its activity is acceptable.
1 comment(s) about this article.
POLITICS
Inside the Zimbabwe blast furnace
Munyaradzi Makoni
Yesterday's political archrivals are today's strange bedfellows. The coalition government of Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Mutambara has halted Zimbabwe's hemorrhaging. Now that a veneer of progress exists, can Zimbabwe heal itself?
2 comment(s) about this article.
RELIGION
Paradoxes of Christianity and Islam
Herman Roborgh
The scriptures of both Islam and Christianity are full of paradoxes.
Some readers of paradoxes simply emphasise only one part of the paradox. Critics of Islam and of Christianity feast on
one-sided interpretation of this sort.
3 comment(s) about this article.
POLITICS
Utegate: Wayne Swan's 'marginal crime'
John Warhurst
The Utegate affair has revealed once again that Australian politics at the
federal level is not squeaky clean. Some interests and individuals do
better out of the system than others. But neither is it deeply flawed
and corrupt.
10 comment(s) about this article.
Why people power won't reform Iran
Shahram Akbarzadeh
The disappointment of Iran's youths at the obviously rigged election
results is now being played out in the streets in
open defiance of the regime. Unfortunately the Islamic regime is in no mood to compromise.
3 comment(s) about this article.
COMMUNITY
Plight of the 'skilled unemployed'
Beth Doherty
After returning home from six months of volunteer work overseas, my
plan was that I would spend a couple of weeks looking, and that after a
few resumés were sent out, the phone calls would start pouring in.
They didn't.
11 comment(s) about this article.
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Today's extra
BOOKS
The adventures of Malcolm Turnbull
Jonathan Shaw
The great wave of Utegate has passed over us, leaving Malcolm Turnbull
on the sands, chastened but apparently unrepentant, and far from
exhausted. Reports
of his political death are manifestly exaggerated.
1 comment(s) about this article.
RECENT EXTRA
VIDEO
New ethics of new media
Peter Kirkwood
The video featured on this page is a
substandard, pirated copy of an artist's work, posted on YouTube. For
most of us, it's the only means of seeing some of the most celebrated
work of one of Australia's leading emerging artists.
TELEVISION
Masterchef cooks up fine reality trash
Tim Kroenert
The original UK Masterchef is the pinnacle of reality TV. Masterchef Australia is the theme park version, sacrificing excellence to entertainment. It may be a different beast to its predecessor, but it's not all bad, either.
2 comment(s) about this article.
NON-FICTION
Not a freakin' travel article
Susan Merrell
I try to guard against stereotyping, so on arrival in New York I had not given a
thought to the loud, brash New Yorker of legend. Yet, they were all there, en masse. New York is full of ... well ... New Yorkers. And boy, are they loud!
5 comment(s) about this article.
POETRY
Five poems by Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart
Are you the rain my Grandma knew so well? .. You're cold enough and sharp enough, my friend .. Perhaps you're rushing from the same wet hell .. Perhaps you're lines some minor devil penned.
EULOGY
Michael Jackson's tragic gift
Tim Kroenert
When celebrities die, public grief is disproportionate, because death reasserts the humanity of one who has seemed beyond
it. Jackson had become so far removed
from his humanity that the shock of his mortality is even more
profound.
6 comment(s) about this article.
BOOKS
Bird stories for a dry country
Tony Smith
Australia leads the world
in mammalian extinction and in threatened species. The rag-tag group of contributors to Boom & Bust provide a timely scientific reminder that the fate
of birds is inextricably tied to our own.
1 comment(s) about this article.
FILMS
Indigenous Robin Hood's just desserts
Tim Kroenert
Jack Charles is an Aboriginal elder, professional actor and part-time criminal. He describes his acts of burglary as 'collecting the rent' from white suburbanites who dwell on what could rightfully be considered Aboriginal land.
5 comment(s) about this article.
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