Vol 20 No 2

01 February 2010

AUSTRALIA

Taliban friend's letters to the enemy
- Benjamin Gilmour
- 12 February 2010
21 Comments
In the tribal areas of Pakistan, close to the Afghan border, Abdullah Khan, a friend and unashamed supporter of the Pakistani Taliban, gives me a present. Slowly I open it. Lying on a bed of white fabric is a US military service medal on a ribbon. 'Just 200 rupees a piece', he tells me.
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EUREKA STREET TV

Swami's fiery interfaith message
- Peter Kirkwood
- 12 February 2010
1 Comment
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Sympathy for an immoral Arab prophet
- Tim Kroenert
- 11 February 2010
From the moment of Malik's imprisonment he finds that if he is to survive, he needs to choose between conflicting evils. His Muslim roots appear from time to time, but while these moments lend transcendence to the film, they give no moral credence to Malik's actions.
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INTERNATIONAL

Messiah Mandela's miracle moment
- Catherine Marshall
- 11 February 2010
4 Comments
I clearly remember what I was doing the day Nelson Mandela walked free from prison. The behemoth apartheid state shifted so thoroughly and so smoothly that even the erratic events of the past 20 years have done little to diminish South Africa's reputation as a miracle nation.
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ENVIRONMENT

Vegetarian's war on duck terror
- Sarah McKenzie
- 10 February 2010
99 Comments
While most states have banned recreational duck shooting, in Victoria it not only continues, but in 2010 will increase. The recreational hunting industry comes down to nothing more than the desire of a small number of mainly men who get a thrill from the kill.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Losing and finding Dad
- Gillian Bouras
- 10 February 2010
11 Comments
Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. My family seemed happy enough, but when my mother died my father rejected his children. As I contemplated a reunion I wondered if he would recognise me. It had been seven years and he had recently been diagnosed with dementia.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

One year after Kinglake burned
- Susan Fealy
- 09 February 2010
1 Comment
Black stumps, capped with snow — no, capped with lime, beside the road, tree ferns, fanning their wing in the sun. A sign: children crossing. The road is so large. The CFA building, those three letters almost the three sides of a cross.
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ENVIRONMENT

iPhone mums take the lead
- Drew Taylor
- 09 February 2010
3 Comments
With sexy, user-friendly devices such as the iPhone and iPad, Apple appears to be succeeding at creating 'human' technology that changes lives and connects them to others. It should come as no surprise that women are one of the fastest growing consumer groups of Apple products.
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AUSTRALIA

Rescuing altruism from the Barnaby rubble
- Michael Mullins
- 08 February 2010
12 Comments
That Senator Joyce's arguments for reducing foreign aid make little sense does not stop them from winning popular support. Many voters decide on the basis of emotion rather than rationality. And tapping voter greed is likely to be more successful than appealing to altruism.
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ENVIRONMENT

Smart taxing solutions to global warming
- Peter Hodge
- 08 February 2010
6 Comments
Between Rudd's ETS and Abbott's 'climate con job', Australians concerned about climate change have little to cheer about. A growing acceptance of the failings of our market based economy has put wind in the sails of an idea becalmed for a decade.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Debunking the myth of Jewish communism
- Philip Mendes
- 05 February 2010
3 Comments
The myth of an international Jewish communist conspiracy has long been a central diet of anti-Semitic agendas. Dutch academic Andre Gerrits provides a dispassionate an balanced account of this contentious topic.
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AUSTRALIA

Haiti needs to be free
- Aurelien Mondon
- 05 February 2010
7 Comments
The Haitians need help, but are not a failed people. Two hundred years ago, Haiti became a beacon of light and freedom for all oppressed people. Colonialism was defeated, and the myth of white supremacy dealt a mortal blow. For this, the little country would pay.
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RELIGION

Martyrdom and other revolutionary miracles
- Andrew Hamilton
- 04 February 2010
12 Comments
Reports regarding Mary MacKillop's miracles have provoked the ire of those who see miracles as evidence of the irrational character of religious faith. Another angle on this debate may be found in an apparent oddity in the processes of saint making.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Fatherhood after the apocalypse
- Tim Kroenert
- 04 February 2010
5 Comments
The blurring of right and wrong in a world where civil structures have disintegrated, is seen in the Man's escalating wildness; his desperation to preserve the life of his son, and his conviction that the end of survival justifies a growing list of dubious means.
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AUSTRALIA

MySchool: helping rich schools get richer
- Tony Kevin
- 03 February 2010
7 Comments
It is disingenuous for Labor education ministers' to say MySchool will create political pressure to boost 'under-performing' schools. Meanwhile parents, voting with their feet, may foster the very outcomes they fear: underprivileged, low-morale schools breeding a generation of alienated, under-achieving kids.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

The allure of J. D. Salinger and Shane Warne
- Brian Doyle
- 03 February 2010
6 Comments
Just as Brits were more absorbed by Byron's life than his work, and Australians were absorbed by Shane Warne's antics more than his artistry, J. D. Salinger grew more famous for retreating from public life, than for his masterpieces.
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ENVIRONMENT

Corruption fuels crisis in water-poor Yemen
- James Dorsey
- 02 February 2010
Like much of the Gulf, Yemen faces a reduced water supply compounded by climate change and poor management. The crisis plays into the hands of the Al Qa'ida offshoot that claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day bombing of a USA airliner.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

City of steel and jaded bricks
- Cassandra O'Loughlin
- 02 February 2010
2 Comments
the sweat-shiny, blackened men .. whose households were regulated by the whistle .. they woke or slept by. The BHP, like a bulker tethered .. amidst chimney stacks and luffing cranes .. to a bollard on the Hunter
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AUSTRALIA

Apple angels and MySchool demons
- Michael Mullins
- 01 February 2010
2 Comments
Both the Apple iPad and the MySchool website will improve our lives if we overcome the urge to deify or demonise. The iPad is priced to appeal to the mass market rather than an elite, and it could hold the key to a manageable large-scale transition from printed books and newspapers.
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EDUCATION

Delivering justice in the schoolyard
- Vic O'Callaghan
- 01 February 2010
4 Comments
Brian was in tears. A sheen of skin had been removed from his right knee and his left hand was grazed. Michael was into his mantra of accidental cause — 'He tripped over my foot' — while Sam stuttered in astonishment: he'd seen Michael deliberately push Brian off the handball line.
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Vol 20 No 2