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Vol 19 No 9

11 May 2009


 

  • MEDIA

    St Mary's a metaphor for blogger power

    • John Cokley
    • 22 May 2009
    6 Comments

    Bloggers are being hunted and jailed in countries such as Burma and Iran. In Western nations they are incurring the wrath of disgruntled mainstream journalists. The plight of St Mary's South Brisbane holds a useful metaphor for this crusade on free speech.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    When feminism goes green

    • Jen Vuk
    • 22 May 2009
    5 Comments

    In the age of equal opportunity and unisex underwear, the feminist movement seems as incendiary as a cup of tea. Then there's ecofeminism, which argues that 'the domination of women and the domination of nature are fundamentally connected'.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Rehabilitation of a failed state

    • Ben Fraser
    • 21 May 2009
    2 Comments

    Perhaps it's an omen: election day in Somalia, and the first voter to approach the polling station wears an Obama t-shirt. Elections, and the act of voting, are a powerful affirmation of one's ability to stand and be counted. For refugees, it is all the more significant.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Agnostic on a mission from God

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 21 May 2009
    5 Comments

    An ancient brotherhood of scientists and artists with a beef against the hierarchy reemerges to try to hobble the Church. The Pope is dead, and the Church leaders, at their most vulnerable, must rely on an old nemesis to be their saviour.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Bud Tingwell and I

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 20 May 2009
    10 Comments

    I only met Bud Tingwell once. Like so many others, I went away the better for the brief encounter. But the meeting also led me to ask questions about what matters, and how we should nurture it in Australian society.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The case for publishing poetry

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 20 May 2009
    6 Comments

    Les Murray describes himself as a poet who is religious rather than a religious poet, and celebrates a sense of wonder and mystery. In an increasingly secular age, poetry has a new function as an alternative or complement to religion.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    An end to rugby's unethical code

    • Tony Smith
    • 19 May 2009
    25 Comments

    It is time we stopped allowing football administrators, advertisers and television stations to set the standards for ethical behaviour. The only way that the current unethical rugby league culture can be removed is for the code itself to disappear.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Danger: avoid death

    • Shane McCauley
    • 19 May 2009
    3 Comments

    You will look left and right .. so many times .. the road will never be crossed ... Swim in nothing deeper .. than a basin ... and say a prayer .. before you sleep at night.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Walking with Port Kembla's ghosts

    • Eleanor Massey
    • 18 May 2009
    9 Comments

    In 1962, Port Kembla was stoked with the dispossessed of the Old World, pouring steel back into the reconstruction of their war-ravaged homelands. Now, it's a ghost town. They're putting together an industrial museum, and that has an ominous ring to it.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Matthew Johns is his own best judge

    • Michael Mullins
    • 18 May 2009
    6 Comments

    The public thinks rugby league star Matthew Johns behaved disgracefully in the 2002 Christchurch group sex incident. He has done nothing wrong in the eyes of the law. He needs to imagine that he is on his deathbed and then ask 'what would I like to have done?'

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  • RELIGION

    Confronting economic monsters

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 15 May 2009

    The public's interest in the Budget has been mild, and its disengagement notable. In the shadow of the economic crisis, there is space for deeper reflection on the human condition, which will help us understand why greed and fear so dominate in human affairs.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Caroline Jones' manual for love and loss

    • Cassandra Golds
    • 15 May 2009
    1 Comment

    Jones' working life has been devoted to stories. In Through A Glass Darkly, she tells of her father's death. Her account questions the experiences behind modern medical miracles, and acts as a guide for understanding suffering and grief.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    New York's God of rot

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 14 May 2009
    2 Comments

    What is a synecdoche? Work that out and you're part of the way to understanding this brilliant if convoluted opus. Suffice it to say that Caden Cotard, the bloated, self-loathing man who presides over the corrupted world at the film's heart, may in fact be God.

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  • RELIGION

    In honour of Indigenous agitators

    • Frank Brennan
    • 14 May 2009
    2 Comments

    Good intentions are not enough. Gone should be the days when Aboriginals are marginal to the corridors of power. Perhaps it will not be until we have seen the first Aboriginal Prime Minister that agitators for Indigenous justice will be vindicated.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Budget stumbles on social inclusion

    • Frank Quinlan
    • 13 May 2009
    3 Comments

    Rudd Labor's first Budget last year seemed to indicate a turn towards a fairer Australia. After the scripted theatre of pre-budget leaks, secure lock-ups and dazzling announcements are stripped away, the 2009–10 Budget indicates we may be waiting for a long time yet.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Shakespeare and the F word

    • Brian Matthews
    • 13 May 2009

    If Shakespeare had dabbled in cuisine, dishes such as 'eye of newt' and 'fillet of fenny snake' may have been a sensation. As the first 'foody' to emerge from the obscurity of Stratford-upon-Avon, he would have an unlikely successor: Gordon Ramsay.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Everything I know

    • Les Wicks
    • 12 May 2009
    2 Comments

    Teenagers can and should be sedated .. Hair is the window of the brain .. Love hurts, but it can be cured .. It doesn't matter if you missed life, it will be on TV eventually.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Ethical keys to a just budget

    • John Warhurst
    • 12 May 2009
    1 Comment

    Catholic Social Teaching promotes the common good, distributive justice and a preferential option for the poor as key principles to underpin any budget. If might is right then the preferences of the strong will overpower those of the vulnerable.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Budget will test Labor's Indigenous commitment

    • Myrna Tonkinson
    • 11 May 2009
    2 Comments

    Any cuts made in this dire economic climate must exclude items for improving conditions for Indigenous Australians. This Budget will test the Government's determination to 'close the gap' between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the population.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Australia's chance to lead climate change action

    • Michael Mullins
    • 11 May 2009
    3 Comments

    The community is divided over the Government's revised climate change strategy. Australia has the most visible evidence of climate change, which makes it all the more urgent for us to provide leadership on the world stage.

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