Search Results: WikiLeaks
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ECONOMICS
- Michael Mullins
- 25 November 2013
14 Comments
The prime minister said he 'sincerely regrets any embarrassment that recent media reports have caused' Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Did he mean the media was doing its job and that the embarrassment was collateral damage? Or was he regretting that the media was out of line? Outspoken monarchist Professor David Flint says the government should retaliate against the ABC by reviewing the its overseas broadcasting contract.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Binoy Kampmark
- 26 September 2013
1 Comment
Jihadi tourism is big business, oiled by a global recruit base from which various diasporas can be tapped. The attackers on the shopping mall in Nairobi were linked to a Somali based outfit calling itself al-Shabaab, a standing affiliate of al-Qaeda operating in the Horn of Africa. But the Somali case is far from unique. The Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts netted their fair share of foreign recruits in the fight against US-led forces.
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AUSTRALIA
- Binoy Kampmark
- 11 September 2013
6 Comments
One of the neglected legacies of the Gillard Government was its ability to marshal views across the chamber and work with Independents on fundamental policies. It was to be a feature of so much during the tumultuous Gillard years: a political chamber of officials forced to negotiate their stances rather than bulldoze them through. That principle is under threat as the final votes in the Senate are counted.
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AUSTRALIA
Unease about the Australian Federal Police obtaining phone and internet records without a warrant coincided with a greater, global anxiety about the more troublesome surveillance activities of the US National Security Agency. The Obama administration's defence of the NSA has been as lame as Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus's defence of the AFP.
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AUSTRALIA
- Kerry Murphy
- 20 March 2013
1 Comment
One Christian engineer remembers celebrating religious festivals with his Muslim neighbours. They in turn would celebrate Christmas with him. Such interfaith experiences are almost unknown now. Iraqis tell me that at least under Saddam you knew where the boundaries were. Now there is uncertainty and indiscriminate violence.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Tim Kroenert
- 15 March 2013
8 Comments
The roots of Assange's civil disobedience are linked to his derision of his mother's penchant for ineffective peaceful protest. His family's run-ins with the mountain cult of which they were one-time members hints at lasting psychological trauma in Asssange that may contribute to his later persona as a lone avenger.
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MEDIA
It's not the Assange who aspired to strut the global stage as messiah or naughty boy who bothers me; it is the Assange of recently diminished ambition who now aspires only to strut the corridors of Parliament House. For all its faults t he democratic process is all we've got: beware those who promise to save us from it.
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AUSTRALIA
- Binoy Kampmark
- 14 November 2012
1 Comment
Australia's unimaginative perspective on China's growing power accords with Washington's. In Obama's terms, China can be an adversary or a partner. China is a complex leviathan, and the great challenge is how to integrate it into the global system without conflict.
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AUSTRALIA
- Tony Kevin
- 20 August 2012
21 Comments
Julian Assange sits securely in the Embassy of Ecuador in London, as Cardinal József Mindszenty did for years inside the US Embassy in Communist-ruled Hungary. This is a benefit of the Vienna Convention. If Britain violated this principle by storming or cutting off utilities to the Embassy, the diplomatic protection of its officials and their families around the world would be weakened immediately.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 04 June 2012
14 Comments
The US pursuit of Assange is being played out with the cooperation of other western democracies. Last week a British court rejected his appeal against extradition to Sweden. The UK government could overrule this, as it did for Chilean dictator Pinochet in 1998. But it looks as if they won't repeat the favour for Assange.
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RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 12 January 2012
10 Comments
The treatment of Bishop Bill Morris risks further blurring the image of the Church. The story told of a good man who encouraged his church, who was resolute in dealing with sexual abuse, but was removed in an untransparent process, will confirm many in their distrust of the Church. Published 15 May 2011
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MEDIA
- Tony Kevin
- 15 December 2011
29 Comments
If Julian Assange is soon extradited from UK to Sweden, as now seems likely, he faces rendition to the US, and the prospect of a long prison sentence or even assassination. The Australian Government continues to do almost nothing to protect its besieged citizen.
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