Welcome to Eureka Street

back to site

Vol 19 No 14

20 July 2009


 

  • EUREKA STREET TV

    In praise of slow TV

    • Peter Kirkwood
    • 31 July 2009
    2 Comments

    For those who value serious content over sensationalism and glitz, who want media meat rather than fairy floss and cake, the 'slow TV' movement is a welcome part of the new media explosion on the internet.

    READ MORE
  • INTERNATIONAL

    Human egg trade exploits women

    • Kevin McGovern
    • 31 July 2009
    1 Comment

    The call by law professor Loane Skene for women to sell their eggs for embryonic stem cell research ignores medical evidence of the health risks, and international evidence that the legalisation of the sale of eggs leads to exploitation of women.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Disunity in the Year of the Priest

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 30 July 2009
    22 Comments

    Ignoring divisions is rarely the best way to address them. It may be better to name 2009 the year of priests, not the Year of the Priest, thus recognising the divergent approaches to priesthood within the Catholic Church.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Race riots and the multiplex

    • Sarah Ayoub
    • 30 July 2009
    2 Comments

    The boys of Lebanon have found a niche in Aussie pop culture. Several recent films deal with Arab-Australians as the 'other', examining the extent of their assimilation, the codes they live by, and their functions within a 'tolerant' society.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Aggro Abbott vs Hockey the bear

    • John Warhurst
    • 29 July 2009
    7 Comments

    Hockey, a big friendly bear of a man, is popular in the electorate. Abbott suffers from his aggressive stance and his image as a conservative Catholic. Both are contenders for the Liberal leadership should Turnbull fall before the next federal election.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Ghosts of sisters present

    • Prue Gibson
    • 29 July 2009
    1 Comment

    When we were small, my sister and I used to wake from the same nightmare. As adults, we draw a feeling of wellbeing from our connection, but there are pitfalls — husbands can get jealous and siblings can take offence. It is the hazard of exclusion.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Prick and it'll bleed

    • Chris Andrews
    • 28 July 2009
    1 Comment

    When I was a kid the right knee of my pants usually tore first, but I can only sneer on the left .. My body goes this way up for 16 hours, then should be laid flat in the dark.

    READ MORE
  • MEDIA

    'Poverty porn' and the politics of representation

    • Tulsi Bisht
    • 28 July 2009
    4 Comments

    Put-downs of post-colonial India are often seen as a continuation of the colonial mentality. The Indian media's portrayal of Australia as racist following the attacks on Indian students does more harm than good.

    READ MORE
  • MEDIA

    Alice's addiction in Cyberland

    • Adam McKenna
    • 27 July 2009
    6 Comments

    As we continue to become tools of our tools, we risk mistaking online social networking for social capital. Social networking is widespread because humans are social animals, and technology has changed the way we live, interact and seek to interact.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Thorpe moving mountain of Indigenous disadvantage

    • Michael Mullins
    • 27 July 2009
    4 Comments

    It's not uncommon for celebrities to get involved in charity work. Ian Thorpe's monumental speech to the Beyond Sport Summit in London articulating his resolve to tackle Indigenous disadvantage suggests he is far ahead of the pack.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Parenthood as religion

    • Sarah Kanowski
    • 24 July 2009
    7 Comments

    After my first child was born I was overwhelmed by a new appreciation for the work required to grow a single human being. History's catalogue of achievements now mean little to me. Man Walks on Moon? Big deal. Each day the headlines should shout, Woman Gives Birth!

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Agnostic in bed with science and religion

    • Jen Vuk
    • 24 July 2009
    1 Comment

    Nikki Gemmell, an agnostic, isn't afraid to confront uncomfortable themes in order to glean a glimmer of understanding. Religion and science may not have the selling power of sex, but each have indelibly shaped individuals as well as history.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Stupid men in a brutal land

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 23 July 2009

    Australia, 1902. One year since Federation. The nation is a sickly child, as yet unaware of its weakness. The colonisers deceive themselves into thinking they can tame the land. A century later, not much has changed.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    The marginalisation of Ted Kennedy

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 23 July 2009
    21 Comments

    Fr Ted Kennedy's work with Indigenous Australians brought him conflict with police, landowners, parishioners and church authorities. If you live at the margins, you will be marginalised. How best to handle this marginalisation?

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Blind anxiety

    • Brendan Forde
    • 22 July 2009
    10 Comments

    I gag in social situations. Visual cues that mediate conversation are not available to me, so halfway through a sentence, confidence evaporates. I'm convinced they're not interested, or I think I hear them stifling a yawn. Why did I ever start to talk?

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Forgiving Frank McCourt

    • Frank O'Shea
    • 22 July 2009
    4 Comments

    For a while there, McCourt was 'mick of the moment', except in his native Limerick where they wanted to strangle him. Teacher Man, his best book, captures what it is to be the lonely figure with only cunning and a stick of chalk to protect you.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Darkened Irish church

    • Libby Hart
    • 21 July 2009
    6 Comments

    Inside this darkened church there are whispers ... a clutter of saints who cross themselves in stony silence .. Time and time again, Christ's palms do not heal.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    End of the road for Sydney cyclists

    • Margaret Rice
    • 21 July 2009
    7 Comments

    It's serious business cycling in Sydney. Cyclists tell of cycleways that suddenly finish, and recently, when one cyclist was hit by a car, instead of checking on his injuries, the driver got out and abused him. In Sydney, the car dominates.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Book copyright debate ignores the future

    • Michael Mullins
    • 20 July 2009
    3 Comments

    Accusations of author greed and cultural philistinism dominate debate surrounding Productivity Commission recommendations on territorial copyright for books. Both sides have a point, but the argument may be irrelevant to the future of book publishing.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Myopic media's Indonesia 'jihad'

    • Herman Roborgh
    • 20 July 2009
    14 Comments

    Many in the media have labelled the bombings in Jakarta as the work of jihad. When we understand the Qur'anic verses that advocate jihad in their proper historical context, it is clear that the Qur'an expresses acceptance and respect for non-Muslims.

    READ MORE