Volume 16 No.14

03 October 2006

AUSTRALIA

As other people see us...
- Morag Fraser
- 16 October 2006
1 Comment
In the Providence Journal, chief political columnist M. Charles Bakst notes that in the Democratic state of Rhode Island, "Bush" is just short of a swear word. The New York Times condemns the Detainee legislation in an editorial headed “Rushing Off a Cliff”. It doesn’t spare the Democrats either.
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RELIGION

Culture warriors have no place in Catholic life
- Andrew Hamilton
- 16 October 2006
1 Comment
The concept of Catholic Culture Wars is destructive, because it makes truth the slave of power. Its logic can be seen in a recent Quadrant review, which projects onto an art exhibition a preoccupation with the occult and sexually ambiguous.
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ENVIRONMENT

Renewed esteem for a former marine enemy
- Tim Thwaites
- 16 October 2006
Grey nurse sharks were cast as villains who preyed on unsuspecting swimmers. It's now regarded as an endangered species, whose potential disappearance from the marine ecosystem could lead to nasty imbalances further down the food chain.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Deft turns pepper Napoleon's final lap
- Clive O'Connell
- 16 October 2006
Belgian-born Australian, Simon Leys, follows an elliptical path, allowing his readers enough latitude to bring their own experience to bear on the novella. He maintains his ironic position both amused by his hero’s progress and sympathetic to him.
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AUSTRALIA

Boys need not be boys forever
- Tim Martyn
- 16 October 2006
2 Comments
Adolescent boys of Western Kenya's Bukusu tribe are ushered to the threshold of manhood by participating in rituals in which they must endure all without exhibiting pain. Western society lacks procedures in which boys can transform and emotionally re-emerge, ready to carry the burden of male responsibility.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Not a religion, poem. Key?
- Paul Mitchell
- 16 October 2006
This is consciously a poem and so must try / to outstare itself. It knows itself by its / line breaks.
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AUSTRALIA

Simple pleasures in Melbourne's North African heart
- James Massola
- 16 October 2006
2 Comments
It’s the fourth night of Ramadan. As the days begin to get longer, there are further challenges for Australian Muslims. Many young men, low on energy during the day, but emboldened by full bellies in the evening, find themselves at a loose end.
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AUSTRALIA

Shelters protect childhood of Ugandan children
- Matthew Smeal
- 16 October 2006
3 Comments
Government-run shelters have become much more than a safe refuge for the children, but somewhere where they can actually be children. Nobody knows whether the recent ceasefire between the Government and the LRA rebels will hold.
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RELIGION

Culture warriors have no place in Catholic life (full version)
- Andrew Hamilton
- 16 October 2006
4 Comments
The concept of Catholic Culture Wars is destructive, because it makes truth the slave of power. Its logic can be seen in a recent Quadrant review, which projects onto an art exhibition a preoccupation with the occult and sexually ambiguous.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Models for a good life and an honest death
- Clive O'Connell
- 16 October 2006
Historian Inga Clendinnen's reviews, childhood recollections, multi-coloured reminiscences of her working career, and informed discourse on simple events or complex ideas, are collected in a way that reveals a tempered tolerance seemingly inherited from her favourite essayist, Montaigne.
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AUSTRALIA

Onus now on those who supported Thai coup
- Minh Nguyen
- 16 October 2006
1 Comment
A former army commander who once declared "the army should never be involved in politics", Surayud Chulanont, was appointed Thailand's interim prime minister at the weekend. But the irony of this appointment matters little in a coup marked by paradoxes.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

9/11 movie more glossy heroism than gritty realism
- Tim Kroenert
- 16 October 2006
1 Comment
Among recent documentaries commemorating the fifth anniversary of September 11, one stood out as particularly harrowing. 9/11—The Falling Man makes a fascinating counterpoint to World Trade Center, the first mainstream feature film to turn its eye to that fateful day.
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AUSTRALIA

Sentencing laws will further alienate indigenous Australians
- Frank Quinlan
- 16 October 2006
3 Comments
Just last week, the coroner’s report into the death in custody of Palm Island man Mulrunji, called for a major overhaul of how the justice system deals with indigenous Australians. Yet in the same week, a Senate Committee began looking into a Bill that will increase the potential for injustice in sentencing decisions affecting indigenous people, and other cultural minorities.
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AUSTRALIA

PNG needs Channel 7 publicity machine
- Michael Mullins
- 16 October 2006
The bizarre mission of TV host Naomi Robson to West Papua, to "rescue" a young boy from cannibalism, achieved nothing but publicity for Channel 7. If the station really cared about the plight of young people in the region, it would have given priority to coverage of Papua New Guinea's AIDS crisis.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Catastrophe on Australia's doorstep (photo essay)
- Peter Cronau
- 16 October 2006
16 Comments
Barely reported by Australia's media, Papua New Guinea's AIDS crisis is on track to cause the collapse of the country's economy, with AusAID forcasting a 37.5% decline in the labour force by 2020.
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AUSTRALIA

Catastrophe on Australia's doorstep (essay)
- Peter Cronau
- 16 October 2006
2 Comments
Barely reported by Australia's media, Papua New Guinea's AIDS crisis is on track to cause the collapse of the country's economy, with AusAID forcasting a 37.5% decline in the labour force by 2020.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Sermon on the Institution
- Paul Mitchell
- 16 October 2006
I came to bring you church / and church in abundance. / Come to me all who are / heavy laden and I will give you church.
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Volume 16 No.14