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Vol 19 No 4

02 March 2009


 

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Adelaide's 'pivotal' bishop

    • Greg O'Kelly
    • 13 March 2009
    5 Comments

    The decades spanning the 1920s–1970s were times of intense change for Australia and the Church. Post war immigration, the Labor split, the Vietnam War and Vatican II all occurred during 'Matty' Beovich's time as Archbishop of Adelaide.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    How G-G weakened monarchists' case

    • John Warhurst
    • 13 March 2009
    9 Comments

    Governors-General are appointed under a system that freezes out the Parliament, the Opposition and the people. The controversy over Quentin Bryce's trip to Africa has again revealed the office's vulnerability to partisan politics.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The trouble with free speech

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 12 March 2009
    2 Comments

    A French satirical paper was sued for portraying Muslims as terrorists and labelling them 'jerks'. The editors would have us believe it's a case of free speech versus censorship. But there's more to it than that.

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  • RELIGION

    Non-believer drawn by the sacred

    • James McEvoy
    • 12 March 2009
    3 Comments

    Irish poet Seamus Heaney's spiritual journey could be seen as a casualty of the so-called secularising effect of the '60s and '70s. Heaney describes a shift from faith as external and ritualistic, to something more personal.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    How to survive committee meetings

    • Brian Matthews
    • 11 March 2009
    2 Comments

    Some rules of thumb: always say 'prior to' instead of 'before', 'in excess of' instead of 'more than' and 'in the approximate vicinity of' instead of 'about'. It's good to say things like, 'We'll have to real-time this to impact on the offshore numbers'.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    ICC's dubious Darfur justice

    • Kimberley Layton
    • 11 March 2009
    2 Comments

    President Omar al-Bashir stands accused of two counts of war crimes and five of crimes against humanity. But prosecuting him will not deliver justice to the people of Darfur. What seems like the beginning of the end of the tragedy may be the end of the beginning.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    God of the empty image

    • Peter Lach-Newinsky
    • 10 March 2009
    4 Comments

    To attain God everything must go: will, self, knowledge, word, God Himself ... Their faith is words. Mine unspeakable.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    What price our sporting soul

    • Edwina Byrne
    • 10 March 2009
    7 Comments

    Members Equity Stadium, ACER Arena, Suncorp Stadium, Etihad Stadium; corporations think they own a lot of our stuff. These buildings, and the events they house, constitute our cultural and urban landscapes. They should be sources of community pride.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    East Timor's digger friend

    • Paul Cleary
    • 09 March 2009
    9 Comments

    When East Timor was struggling to get a fair deal in negotiations over Timor Sea oil, Kenneally rallied his mates to fight. Appearing on national television, he told Prime Minister Howard: 'I'd rather you did not come to my ANZAC Day parade.'

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Gain from pain

    • Michael Mullins
    • 09 March 2009

    The Victorian bushfires occurred during a time of financial uncertainty, but Australians gave their money generously. It was as if they were consciously and calculatingly investing their funds in the solidarity of the community.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Why humans rule the world

    • Jen Vuk
    • 06 March 2009

    Science journalist Hannah Holmes turns a cool, scientific eye back on us, reminding us of our mammalian origins and bringing us down to size. 'Knobby', pink-skinned and ludicrously top heavy, our peculiarity is also the key to our success.

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  • MEDIA

    Religion lives on in the ABC's shallow pool

    • Peter Kirkwood
    • 06 March 2009
    11 Comments

    This week Compass celebrates its 21st birthday. In the fickle, faddish world of television that's quite an achievement. It's ironic that serious coverage of religion is being celebrated on ABC TV, while being purged from radio.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Loving George W. Bush

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 05 March 2009
    4 Comments

    Those who expect a portrait of a monster will be disappointed. Stone's Bush is not exactly sympathetic. But he is human. He is even likeable.

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  • RELIGION

    How to 'green' your church

    • Steven Douglas
    • 05 March 2009
    9 Comments

    Catholic and Anglican Churches are relatively recent converts to religious environmentalism. The rhetoric of the Catholic Church on Creation-care remains largely an optional extra for its organisations; economic and institutional gains take precedence.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The human face of a 'metaphorical' poet

    • Garry Kinnane
    • 04 March 2009
    6 Comments

    In 1972 Auden abandoned New York to live at Christ Church College, Oxford. He was given a cottage in the grounds, and was expected to give occasional talks and be available to students. It turned out not to be the success everyone had hoped for.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The logic of the Bali death machine

    • Peter Hodge
    • 04 March 2009
    3 Comments

    In Kafka's 'The Penal Colony', a brutal, archaic killing device is valued more highly than the law it enforces. As members of the Bali 9 continue to languish, we ask whether 'because the law says so' is sufficient reason for them to die.

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  • EDUCATION

    How to teach 'vampire' students

    • Eleanor Massey
    • 03 March 2009
    10 Comments

    The student teacher is doing his best, trying to teach abstract ideas in a difficult play about a postmodern world. A girl in the front row is discussing her new 'vampire' boyfriend. 'He's in 12B,' she says. 'I can't take my eyes off him.'

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Miscellaneous notes on Rwanda

    • Shu Cai
    • 03 March 2009

    Poor Armadu .. His sixth son is crying .. his wife is pregnant with his seventh .. Armadu's belly must be full of a poor man's joy.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Burger buggers' price hike spin

    • Michael Mullins
    • 02 March 2009
    3 Comments

    McDonald's is increasing prices for those in lower socio-economic areas, and claiming the moral high ground at the same time. But it's rising star food chain Aldi that is showing the way with its uniform pricing policy.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Art and the Piss Christ umbrella

    • Jessica Frawley
    • 02 March 2009
    8 Comments

    Paintings that once would have once sparked controversy now adorn biscuit tins, umbrellas, notebooks and a range of other merchandise. We have killed the controversy and challenges faced in the past by branding it to death.

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