Vol 19 No 24

07 December 2009

ARTS AND CULTURE

A child's 'Christ bus' in America
- Brian Doyle
- 18 December 2009
Once I opened a present on which a young niece had written MARY CHRIST BUS, with every iota of her tongue-clenched diligence. If I was a wise man, I would have saved that paper, so that I could even now open it and see the world as it is, ancient, glorious and written endlessly by the young.
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AUSTRALIA

Carols in the gangland
- Sarah Ayoub
- 18 December 2009
5 Comments
Men of dark hair and olive skin travelling in packs, bound by an unbreakable tradition. They have found a niche for themselves in South-West Sydney, and no matter how they are stereotyped, they continue to meet, greet and roar as they beat, pa-rum-pum-pum-pum, on their drums.
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EUREKA STREET TV

Ethical solutions to the global moral crisis
- Peter Kirkwood
- 18 December 2009
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AUSTRALIA

Chaotic endgame in Copenhagen
- Tony Kevin
- 18 December 2009
3 Comments
At conferences like this, an atmosphere of crisis is necessary for final deals to be achieved. Kevin Rudd will not want to define the summit as a failure so, hopefully, his notorious 5 per cent emissions reduction target will be left behind.
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AUSTRALIA

Holiday greetings from Eureka Street
- Staff
- 18 December 2009
1 Comment
A big thank you to all our readers for your support during 2010. Eureka Street will begin publishing its Best Articles of 2009 on 4 January. Our regular publishing schedule will recommence on 18 January. We hope you have a fulfilling and relaxing holiday season. See you next year!
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ENVIRONMENT

The morality of population control
- Paul Collins
- 17 December 2009
22 Comments
It's hard not to sound misanthropic when discussing population. Conservatives accuse you of favouring abortion, contraception and sterilisation in developing countries. Progressives say you're a cultural imperialist diverting attention from social justice.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Samson and Delilah and other great Australian stories
- Tim Kroenert
- 17 December 2009
1 Comment
Back in March, I strolled the streets of Fitzroy in Melbourne's inner north with Warwick Thornton, trying to find a quiet spot for an interview. Two months prior to the release of his feature debut, Samson and Delilah, Thornton was quietly hopeful his film would be positively received.
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AUSTRALIA

Abbott needs to be a better boxer
- John Warhurst
- 16 December 2009
7 Comments
Tony Abbott sees the role of the Opposition as merely to oppose the Government. This fits the image of Abbott the boxer standing his ground resolutely in the middle of the ring. But it is a simplistic view not just of Opposition, but of boxing.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Christmas cakes in art and war
- Frank O'Shea
- 16 December 2009
3 Comments
If you ever hear a House Manager admit that her neighbour has made a better Christmas cake, write down the time, place and the names of witnesses, and get it signed by your parish priest. It is the kind of thing that might be useful in the early stages of a canonisation process.
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RELIGION

The inhospitality of Bendigo Anglicans snub
- Andrew Hamilton
- 15 December 2009
34 Comments
Christmas is a time for hospitality, and hospitality is central in the Christian tradition. You may not have thought this was so when, recently, the Anglican Church in Bendigo, Vic., was denied the use of a Catholic cathedral for the ordination of four female deacons.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Half-baked takes on the glory of God
- Michele Madigan Somerville
- 15 December 2009
3 Comments
spires nosed upwards to touch the celestial concert of bodies ... We emulate with half-lame gestures, insufficient and diffuse, dissolving into air like smoke ascending from a goat on an altar — as if God were open to flattery
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AUSTRALIA

The opportunity cost of Rudd-love
- Michael Mullins
- 14 December 2009
5 Comments
If Hawke and Keating had failed to act on economic reform, the opportunity cost would have been devastating unemployment during the GFC. It is not difficult to imagine the opportunity cost of the priority Rudd is giving to his own popularity over reforms that are now urgently needed.
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RELIGION

Marketing the Dalai Lama
- Yannick Thoraval
- 14 December 2009
8 Comments
When the Dalai Lama appeared, people flocked to the stage, mobile phone cameras in hand, so they too could own a piece of the Dalai Lama. As a measure of our cultural values, it is interesting to consider that the Dalai Lama has become a commodity.
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AUSTRALIA

Let's redistribute hope
- John Falzon
- 11 December 2009
7 Comments
Aside from a few fanatical poverty-deniers, there is a broad consensus that we have a serious problem. Frantz Fanon reminded us nearly 50 years ago that we need a redistribution of wealth. 'Humanity must reply to this question, or be shaken to pieces by it.' We have been shaken to pieces.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Illuminating the St Mary's conflict
- Andrew Hamilton
- 11 December 2009
25 Comments
The conflict between Archbishop John Bathersby and Fr Peter Kennedy was passionate and public. This book shines a light on the dispute, setting it into a human context that is much larger than that offered by the media coverage.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Children and other wild things
- Tim Kroenert
- 10 December 2009
4 Comments
Max has an erratic imagination, and is prone to extremes of emotion. There are hints of mental illness, but, really, he is simply Every Child. Following a ferocious fight with his mother, he flees into fantasy and becomes king to a group of melancholic monsters.
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INTERNATIONAL

South Africa's black and white minstrels
- David Holdcroft
- 10 December 2009
3 Comments
The performers, in white-face make-up and baggy trousers, have two minutes to catch a driver's attention and elicit a few rands. Their skill is as remarkable as the cultural and racial ironies of their performance.
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AUSTRALIA

Guerilla president cements Uruguay's left
- Antonio Castillo
- 09 December 2009
1 Comment
Four decades ago 'Pepe' Mujica was a ferocious Latin American guerrilla leader. His election as president of Uruguay shows that the Latin American people continue to reject the neoliberal experiment that has brought so much poverty and injustice.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Close encounters with cricket history
- Brian Matthews
- 09 December 2009
2 Comments
January 1961: the fourth Ashes test. On the eve of the final day, with Australia's plight looking grim, we went to a Chinese restaurant. We'd just given our orders when Richie Benaud, Neil Harvey, Allan Davidson and Ken 'Slasher' Mackay walked in.
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AUSTRALIA

Fresh female face of fatigued NSW politics
- Tony Smith
- 08 December 2009
5 Comments
Some cynics say female leaders are the housewives and mothers of politics, expected to clean the mess left by the men who preceded them. Male premiers have been shaping NSW for over 150 years now, so Kristina Keneally must clean up after 41 predecessors.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Guttered brotherhood
- B. N. Oakman
- 08 December 2009
1 Comment
Our town nuisance, eyes bulging from a hollowed head, trousers like tattered flags half-mast on broomstick legs, a pest to the tourists ... a handy arrest for the police
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ENVIRONMENT

The silent narrative of trees
- Thor Beowulf
- 07 December 2009
5 Comments
Trees are recognised as powerful cosmological agents in many of the earth's myths, rituals and religious beliefs. A worldwide 'bell ringing for climate justice' on 13 December will signify a vocal, moral and spiritual re-engagement of churches with nature.
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AUSTRALIA

Abbott's vision for a better Australia
- Michael Mullins
- 07 December 2009
25 Comments
There is a view that Tony Abbott is seeking to expand the public's moral imagination rather than simply pander to avarice. This should be tested against his characterisation of the ETS as a giant 'tax grab'.
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Vol 19 No 24