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05 January 2009
When it comes to political debate, being a foreigner can be difficult. Former president Vladimir Putin's recent State of the Nation address, made on the eve of his departure from the presidency, called for national unity and 'stable development' to the exclusion of foreign influence. (March 2008)
Landscape has long been acknowledged as central to Australian colonial history. In contrast to the harsh conditions endured by settlers in Sydney Cove, convicts in Tasmania experienced a veritable Eden. (March 2008)
The controversy surrounding art photographer Bill Henson's images of nude pubescent children reveals how strongly in our culture runs anxiety about child abuse. As a media event his art has been confused with the commercial exploitation of children. (June 2008)
the wood-chip mills with gaping jaws strip chew and spit out forests ... protestors gather in city parks to march with banners — promises are processed — pulped (February 2008)
Paradoxes can be hard to digest, but it doesn't mean they're not good for you. During question time, the panellists try hard not to disagree with each other on the state of modern feminism. My g-string's giving me a wedgie, and I shift uncomfortably. (October 2008)
Even though the university was now in phase seven of its Orwellian audit on 'where money was coming from and where it was going', they still had not yet twigged that there was a cell of book buying anarchists wearing sensible shoes in their midst. (February 2008)
Working mums were 'offended' and 'disgusted' by Mem Fox's childcare slam. Other critics berated 'selfish mothers' and a society sick with affluenza. There was one word missing word from all the brouhaha: 'fathers'. (September 2008)
From the time Heath Ledger first stepped onto the Dark Knight set there was talk regarding the brilliance of his performance. His voice is a villainous snarl. His walk is a Quasimodo slouch. His eyes are anarchic. Ledger's joker is a force of nature. (July 2008)
The housing crisis is here, but its effects are just beginning to be realised. A 'common equity' model suggests an alternative means of home ownership that excludes profit-driven banks and lenders, so that housing becomes a right rather than a privilege of the privileged. (June 2008)
The execution of the Bali bombers is imminent, and Kevin Rudd has encouraged Australians to have the 'last gloat'. The Muslim world will interpret our gloating as Australia's endorsementof the Bush Doctrine in its dying days.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first showing of Christian Dior's New Look fashion designs in Sydney. After years of wartime material restraints the New Look offered Australian women a fresh way of expressing their individuality and sensuality through fashion. (March 2008)
Benny Morris, Israel's best-known revisionist historian, led more and more Israelis and Diaspora Jews in the 1980s to accept the legitimacy of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Morris has changed his spots. (September 2008)
Eureka Street will resume its regular schedule on 19 January. Until then, enjoy some of the best articles and illustrations from the past 12 months.
Kevin Rudd's announcement of a 5 per cent 2020 emissions reduction target is a betrayal. He has put short-term political survival ahead of his responsibilities to the next generation. Where is Bonhoeffer when we need him? (December 2008)
In life and art Nick Cave is drawn to the potent territory where the sacred meets the profane. Steve McQueen's brutal, beautiful portrait of Irish republican prisoners of an uncaring Thatcher government achieves a similar transcendence. (October 2008)
There are lessons to be learned from Sarah Palin's quip that the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull terrier is 'lipstick'. In Western politics, women are acceptable if they look 'youthful' and are attached to powerful men to whose authority they defer. (September 2008)
The rumoured potential of the Large Hadron Collider to bring about the disintegration of the universe captured the public imagination. 'Hadron' is a word susceptible to misprinting of a kind that destroys the seriousness of any discussion. (September 2008)
I love the way you go from fat to thin ... Straight to curly (October 2008)
Most indigenous Australians appreciated Labor's wide consultation. Some were angered by elements of Brendan Nelson's speech. But he did well do bring the Liberal and National Parties with him, ensuring they did not rain on the national parade as they had in 1988 and 1997. (February 2008)
On the day the markets bled we rushed to hear Stiglitz's diagnosis. The Nobel Laureate used to be Chief Economist of the World Bank, ending his term in fisty cuffs with the IMF and the US over their financial bullying of developing nations. Stiglitz had schadenfreude written all over his face. (October 2008)
The modern Olympic torch relay was initiated by the Nazi leadership in 1936 to uphold the image of the Third Reich as a dynamic and expanding influence. Those who extinguished the Beijing torch in protest against human rights violations in Tibet recognise its origins and potency as a political symbol. (April 2008)