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Vol 18 No 17

18 August 2008


 

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Book of the week

    • John Bartlett
    • 29 August 2008
    1 Comment

    In 2003 Elders of the Ngarrindjeri Nation stood up to the South Australian Governor on traditional lands issues. The same spirit of defiance personifies this chronicle of the stories and aspirations of powerful Ngarrindjeri women.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Welcome workers from 'bipolar' Pacific

    • Jonathan Ritchie
    • 29 August 2008
    5 Comments

    Papua New Guineans have an abiding regard for Australia, and know far more about Australia than we do about their country. The introduction of the guest worker scheme sends a message to the Pacific of trust and respect.

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  • RELIGION

    Religious devotion meets popular culture

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 28 August 2008
    3 Comments

    If we show an interest in the lives of soapies characters, we may be seen as aesthetically and culturally dim. People whose religious imagination expresses itself in exuberant devotional practices are often seen in the same way.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Film of the week

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 28 August 2008
    2 Comments

    During the 1970s, Australian cinema experienced what many now regard as its golden age. Who were the maverick filmmakers gleefully scuffing up the flipside of that glittering coin, and why does Phillip Adams despise them so?

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  • RELIGION

    'Agnostic' priest's social inclusion scepticism

    • Frank Brennan
    • 27 August 2008
    9 Comments

    The Government's Social Inclusion Board has commenced work. Provided 'social inclusion' doesn't become a buzzword to cloud discussion about service delivery, it could be a useful means for enhancing human flourishing.

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  • EUREKA STREET/ READER'S FEAST AWARD

    Killing Lady Bountiful

    • Maddy Oliver
    • 27 August 2008
    10 Comments

    The power differential between helper and the helped is insidious. 'Lady Bountiful' wants credit for giving without thought of return, but can't help counting her sacrifices. Refugees can spot threats to their privacy and self-respect from a mile off.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The feminist eunuch

    • Various
    • 26 August 2008
    1 Comment

    What is Germaine to her personality? .. Her Catholic childhood I fear.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The provocative folly of Poland missile defence

    • Tony Kevin
    • 26 August 2008
    9 Comments

    The US Polish-Czech missile defence system will be both futile, and provocative to Russia - an irresponsible initiative typical of the outgoing Bush administration. This is dangerous baggage that Obama or McCain will now have to deal with.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Matters of life and deaf

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 25 August 2008
    9 Comments

    Imagine the horror of a completely silent world. The deaf person requires strategies: they must make requests, or provide tactful reminders. Lip-reading is a useful skill, but beards and moustaches can provide difficulty.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Dignity the question for 'dirt poor' islanders

    • Michael Mullins
    • 25 August 2008
    5 Comments

    The Coalition opposes the Government's Pacific Guest Worker scheme due to a range of 'unanswered questions'. Brendan Nelson's 'dirt poor Pacific islanders' jibe suggests that fear, not compassion, fuels these concerns.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Protesters not to blame for Viet vets neglect

    • Tony Smith
    • 22 August 2008
    11 Comments

    Vietnam War supporters have been silent since creating the moral disaster faced by returning soldiers. These veterans were judged as failing mythical standards set by previous generations of warriors, and have suffered ever since.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Book of the week

    • Jen Vuk
    • 22 August 2008

    What is 'Daddy's nigger rule', and what is the profound impact it has upon his son David's Tennessee childhood?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Film of the week

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 21 August 2008

    One was shot on location in Pakistan by an amateur Sydney filmmaker. The other is a cartoon made by an Iranian expatriate about life in Tehran. What do such different films have to tell us about humanity in the Middle East?

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    Suited polluters assess climate change risk

    • Les Coleman
    • 21 August 2008
    6 Comments

    This week's ABC TV Australian Story featured property magnate Bill McHarg, who walked away from his job to fight John Howard's inaction on climate change. Research suggests he is a rarity, with most white males with good education and high income downplaying the risk of climate change.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Life after politics is often hollow

    • John Warhurst
    • 20 August 2008
    2 Comments

    The lure of leadership seems to have Peter Costello reconsidering his decision to walk away from the Liberals. Whether motivated by serving the community or by personal advancement, once politics is in your blood it is hard to shake off.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Books survive the orgasm of closure

    • Brian Matthews
    • 20 August 2008
    3 Comments

    We've seen the 'end of history' and the 'death of God', yet the humble book lives on. While technology buffs embrace the e-book, printed books continue to exercise an atavistic attraction through their fusion of form and content.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Mistakes make catchy riffs

    • Kevin Gillam
    • 19 August 2008

    I bend the truth 'til it forms a circle .. I write with singular purpose, like a snail crossing lawn .. at night, I write in think, like balloons .. released in sunlight

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  • AUSTRALIA

    US-backed Georgia pokes the Russian bear

    • Tony Kevin
    • 19 August 2008
    7 Comments

    Provocation by the US and the Saakashvili government has realigned the balance of power between Russia and the West. The Georgia conflict is the most important event in East-West relations since the fall of Soviet Communism.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Aid worker deaths challenge NGO assistance model

    • Michael Mullins
    • 18 August 2008

    Last Wednesday's killing of three foreign aid workers in Afghanistan marked a new low point for non government organisations. NGOs must lose neither heart nor the support of their constituencies in developed countries.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Amrozi: What would Batman do

    • Paul Mitchell
    • 18 August 2008
    13 Comments

    Imagine Kevin Rudd in a Batman suit, and soon-to-be executed Bali bomber Amrozi as the Joker. Would the caped crusader's 'rule' — that he not become a monster to stop one — compel him to intercede on the smiling assassin's execution?

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