Welcome to Eureka Street

back to site

Best of 2006

26 December 2006


 

  • RELIGION

    Confessions of a land rights advocate

    • Frank Brennan
    • 24 December 2006
    2 Comments

    It could be time to think of abandoning the present system of native land title, which mainly benefits lawyers. A better system may be an arbitral system that declares what the rights of the parties ought to be according to the justice and circumstances of the individual case. From 16 May 2006.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Opportunity passes over Beazley and Costello

    • Jack Waterford
    • 24 December 2006

    The idea that neither Peter Costello nor Kim Beazley will ever be Prime Minister of Australia has been reinforced in recent months. From 25 July 2006.  

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Military power no way to uphold human dignity

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 24 December 2006

    Suicide bombing, kidnapping and rocket attacks are morally indefensible. They commonly demean the humanity of those who indulge in them and those who suffer them. From 25 July 2006.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Why change Aborigines into images of ourselves?

    • Brian McCoy
    • 24 December 2006
    2 Comments

    It was one thing for some of our politicians to reveal that they clearly misunderstand Aboriginal people and their culture. It is quite another thing when a reporter goes to live in a community for ten days and thinks she got the measure of 'the cultural and social issues at play'. From 22 August 2006.

    READ MORE
  • ENVIRONMENT

    Zookeeper Irwin preached the wrong message

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 24 December 2006
    1 Comment

    The story of Irwin's life, already being written, will conclude that he was a good conservationist, a global ambassador for protecting 'dangerous' animals. But how can the owner of a zoo be worthy of such a title? Zoos are enclosures that imply a loss of sanctuary and celebrate the subjugation of nature. From 19 September 2006.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Pope's Islamic stumble baffles the experts

    • Daniel Madigan
    • 24 December 2006

    Pope Benedict is learning the hard way that interreligious dialogue these days is a complex and delicate business. Though he has now affirmed his respect for Muslims, his decision to quote a polemical medieval text against Muhammad and the Qur’an during a lecture last week remains puzzling. From 19 September 2006.

    READ MORE
  • INTERNATIONAL

    Catastrophe on Australia's doorstep (Best articles of 2006 special edition)

    • Peter Cronau
    • 24 December 2006
    1 Comment

    Barely reported by Australia's media, Papua New Guinea's AIDS crisis is on track to cause the collapse of the country's economy, with AusAID forcasting a 37.5% decline in the labour force by 2020. From 3 October 2006.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Churches could hold key to salvation for the Left

    • Clive Hamilton
    • 24 December 2006
    2 Comments

    The error of post-modernism, which grew out of the broad academic left and now dominates Western society, is that it has no metaphysical foundation for a moral critique. From 31 October 2006.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Blind cricket tourist who sees the point of sport

    • Paul Daffey
    • 24 December 2006

    Andy Gemmell, who is 54, is in Australia on a long holiday during which he’s going to the cricket and the races and catching up with friends he met through the Compton Arms in Islington, London. The main difference between Andy and other Ashes tourists is that Andy is blind. From 12 December 2006.

    READ MORE
  • ENVIRONMENT

    Biotech revolution promises to alter human nature

    • Ursula Stephens
    • 24 December 2006

    The most significant threat posed by contemporary biotechnology is the possibility that it will alter human nature—and thereby move us into what Fukuyama calls a "post human" stage of history. From 14 November 2006.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Ten short poems

    • ten poets
    • 24 December 2006
    3 Comments

    They say after the storm / you should check the tide pools / for fallen stars. From 17 October 2006.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Andrew Denton's very Christian anti-Christian film

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 24 December 2006
    2 Comments

    Denton says the people interviewed for his new film on evangelical Christianity in the USA "embody the Christian ideals of love", but absolute faith can "tell you it’s okay to hate a group of people such as homosexuals". From 31 October 2006.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Catholics learning to love themselves (humbly)

    • Michael Mullins
    • 24 December 2006

    A new history of the North Sydney Jesuit parish describes the turbulent '60s, during which there was a shift in the disposition of Catholics from a feeling of it being "easier than one thinks to hate oneself", towards "learning to love oneself humbly". From 17 October 2006.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Simple pleasures in Melbourne's North African heart

    • James Massola
    • 24 December 2006

    It’s the fourth night of Ramadan. As the days begin to get longer, there are further challenges for Australian Muslims. Many young men, low on energy during the day, but emboldened by full bellies in the evening, find themselves at a loose end. From 3 October 2006.

    READ MORE