Vol 19 No 8

27 April 2009


 

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    What sort of person would work for a dictator

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 08 May 2009

    Kamel Sachet, a 'hero' from the Iran/Iraq war, eventually made the rank of general. But he grew disenchanted with the rule of Saddam. As he tried to withdraw from active service, he became more religious as an observant Muslim.

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  • MEDIA

    Why kids need their own ABC TV channel

    • Damien Spry
    • 08 May 2009
    2 Comments

    Quality television for children is widely regarded as a good idea. But not all children's TV has their best interests at heart. The ABC3 kids channel, which could receive funding in next week's Federal Budget, is an important step, but may not address all concerns.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Getting smart, not tough, on bikies

    • Moira Rayner
    • 07 May 2009
    4 Comments

    No 'group' can be assumed to be full of criminals. Men form friendships out of common, innocuous interests. Laws introduced in NSW interfere with civil liberties and are likely to be ineffective at addressing organised crime.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Lessons in empathy for racist Australia

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 07 May 2009
    9 Comments

    Samson and Delilah is an ode to Alice Springs and its extremes; an ethereal love story against a backdrop of addiction, violence and displacement. Racism is not an explicit presence, but it is there, a foul breath that muggies the air. 

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Demerit points for bad poetry

    • Brian Doyle
    • 06 May 2009
    4 Comments

    It is a useful truth that every real feat is built on a mountain of failures. The price for poetry's occasional power is the ocean of self-indulgent, mewling muck produced and published annually under the tattered banner of the Poem.

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  • RELIGION

    On blaming God for swine flu

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 06 May 2009
    15 Comments

    An American priest reportedly claimed that swine flu was God's punishment for sin. The idea that God might use natural disasters to punish people is repugnant. But at first glance the Scriptures do seem to represent God as doing just that.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The questionable ethics of Australia's defence

    • Tony Smith
    • 05 May 2009
    6 Comments

    It is enouraging that the Government's Defence White Paper de-emphasises the US alliance in favour of self-reliance. However, we still desperately need community debate about the ways in which a military force can be used morally.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The tyranny of difference

    • Susan Hurley and Grace Yee
    • 05 May 2009
    4 Comments

    even if we spent the next hundred years .. carving roast lamb on Sundays .. buttering white bread .. and boiling Brussels sprouts .. we could never be them .. nor they us

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Confronting housing inequality

    • Ben O'Mara
    • 04 May 2009
    5 Comments

    The Australian dream of home ownership is bound up in a process of gentrification. As interest rates drop and economies weaken, we need to ensure everyone can afford a place to live, not just those looking for a bargain during tough times.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Getting a grip on swine flu hysteria

    • Michael Mullins
    • 04 May 2009
    3 Comments

    The Herald Sun's Andrew Bolt has provided a welcome critique of 'pig flu' fear-mongering by the Australian media. But he falls into a similarly myopic trap that misses the global perspective.

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  • RELIGION

    Making friends with the Taliban

    • Herman Roborgh
    • 01 May 2009
    14 Comments

    The deployment by Western nations of more troops to Afghanistan will serve to exacerbate the Taliban's rising influence across the border in Pakistan. The history of Jesuit involvement in Pakistan reveals an alternative solution.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Lively history of Quaker service

    • Paul Rule
    • 01 May 2009
    3 Comments

    The variety of Quaker service in Aboriginal communities and around the world is extraordinary. In light of the GFC and climate change, the Quakers' emphasis on small-scale food and water security projects will prove prescient.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Bad business goes beyond individuals

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 30 April 2009
    10 Comments

    Richard Pratt's death focused attention on his collusion in price fixing. Judgments against James Hardie focused on their former Chair, Meredith Hellicar. This focus on individuals risks losing sight of the social implications of the way business is conducted.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Animated Lebanese terror

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 30 April 2009
    1 Comment

    In 1982, Lebanese Christian militiamen murdered 800 civilians at Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut. Ari Folman witnessed the massacre as a 19-year-old Israeli soldier. He sets out to reveal those repressed memories.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Swine flu will hit poor countries hardest

    • Margaret Rice
    • 29 April 2009
    1 Comment

    The outbreak of swine flu has crossed the species barrier and spread quickly from human to human. Amid the general gloom, medical companies' stocks have risen since Monday, particularly those which produce ant-virals.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Sex and bridge

    • Frank O'Shea
    • 29 April 2009

    If you can find a person who can execute a Reverse Squeeze or a Scissors Coup at the bridge table, chances are they will be able to carry out equivalent manoeuvres in a loving relationship.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Indigenous rugby player blazes away

    • Barry Gittins and B. F. Moloney
    • 28 April 2009

    He was flying up the guts .. hair and legs and arms ablaze .. Tacklers flew and flew again .. failing to disturb his crazed .. run of passion ... under Queensland skies.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Bringing Hamas in from the cold

    • Ashlea Scicluna
    • 28 April 2009
    13 Comments

    Leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinians have been invited for peace talks in Washington. Rather than seeking to destroy Hamas, the US ought to encourage a unity government with Fatah, that would bring Hamas into the mainstream.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Death, despair and global economic fallout

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 27 April 2009
    4 Comments

    Australian Shareholders Association says the BrisConnections 'lifeline' offered by the Macquarie Group won't cover 'the bulk of desperate investors'. Sometimes bad things happen to good people at the mercy of the clever and the greedy.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Say g'day to ease Muslim-Christian tensions

    • Michael Mullins
    • 27 April 2009
    21 Comments

    Christians committed to interfaith dialogue were shocked that some Christian leaders have opposed the building of an Islamic school in Sydney. Rather than welcoming the newcomers, leaders' statements will bolster opposition based on fear and ignorance.

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