Volume 16 No.18

28 November 2006

ARTS AND CULTURE

An alternative to the crude barometer of public opinion
- Michael Ashby
- 11 December 2006
Most political studies are poll-driven. Because qualitative data are far less likely to be available, little is known about the the political experience and imaginings of "ordinary" Australians.
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AUSTRALIA

Gen Y free for anything except belonging
- Michael McVeigh
- 11 December 2006
A new Generation Y study says that today's young people have grown up in a very skeptical and cynical society. Therefore they're isolated, and don’t feel too good about believing in, or belonging to, anything.
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AUSTRALIA

Money talks in the new Ireland, just like Australia
- Michael Mullins
- 11 December 2006
Sometimes we need to look elsewhere to realise what is happening in our own backyard. Ireland is not Australia, but both countries have become prosperous at a time when many other developed nations are in the midst of an economic downturn.
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AUSTRALIA

Becoming native to this large place
- Terry Monagle
- 11 December 2006
2 Comments
White Australians are slow to invent a language which matches this continent and mutes the shock-horror reaction to drought. While politicians talk about Australian values, "little" people are working at a much deeper study of what it means to be native.
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AUSTRALIA

Gold panner's large rewards from small discoveries
- Paul Daffey
- 11 December 2006
1 Comment
Max Muir, who worked on the Victorian Railways all his working life, says many railway employees have hobbies such as fishing or golf—pastimes that can be enjoyed either alone or in groups, and at odd hours if need be. In Muir’s case, he developed the hobby of panning for gold.
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RELIGION

Throw out the baby, keep the bathwater
- Scott Stephens
- 11 December 2006
2 Comments
Instead of all those Baroque paintings of the baby Jesus in arms, the work of art that best captures the spirit of Christianity is arguably Andres Serrano's controversial Piss Christ.
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INTERNATIONAL

Protecting women from danger in Darfur
- Ben Fraser
- 11 December 2006
Internally displaced person (IDP) camps offer a modicum of safety and sustenance amidst spiraling levels of deprivation and insecurity. But there is an increasing incidence of rape and physical assault upon women who have ventured outside the camp to comb the barren landscape for firewood. In Darfur, an environment where law and order often functions as the exception rather than the rule, rights are regularly challenged and violated. For those denied protection, each day plays out in a familiar way—seeking little, but risking all.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Catholic schoolboys' story of love and AIDS death
- Michael Mullins
- 11 December 2006
11 Comments
Holding The Man, a modern Australian non-fiction classic, is now on stage in Sydney. A same-sex relationship sets two students on a path thats leads to deeply fulfilling lives, but also a premature death from AIDS.
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AUSTRALIA

Migrants already know about loneliness
- Deborah Singerman
- 11 December 2006
1 Comment
Our social networks underpin those casual salutations–"have a good weekend" or a "big night", or the jabber of mobile phones or texting. But they're increasingly elusive in today's world, as migrants already know.
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AUSTRALIA

First Test thumping won't reverse ageing of Australian cricketers
- James Massola
- 11 December 2006
1 Comment
Dennis Lillee's recent comments about the Australians paying the price for having such an elderly team were shouted down from just about all quarters. Lillee could have held his tongue, given his own privileged circumstances—but then perhaps he did have a point.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Tower of Babel
- Meg McNena
- 11 December 2006
1 Comment
Lean Cuisine and single flannelette sheets to the heaven / of anywhere else. Born for higher things, a fair share / of paradise beyond the pale of suburban confinement.
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RELIGION

Da Vinci, Christmas, Piss Christ and Gene therapy: a response
- Andrew Hamilton
- 11 December 2006
11 Comments
When first invited to respond to Scott Stephens’ stimulating exploration of connections between faith and culture, I groaned. I had resolved to never again even think of The Da Vinci Code.
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ENVIRONMENT

Bodies and brains already merged with computer power
- Tim Thwaites
- 11 December 2006
1 Comment
The animated family conversation was becoming louder. Looking for signs that it was disturbing the other passengers, there was no need to worry. On a tram which was two-thirds full, almost all were staring into space, plugged into their iPods.
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AUSTRALIA

Thorpie proves mortality is no vice
- Binoy Kampmark
- 11 December 2006
In the end, Thorpe was swimming against himself. There were rivals, but there was nothing left, other than the treadmill of performances. The admission came in his last conference: "I needed a closing point." There is reason for him to be proud.
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Volume 16 No.18