Each year for the last three years, I’ve taken a group of architecture students to Alice Springs for a 10-day urban design workshop. I first found myself in this city during Desert Mob – the annual sale…
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Politics + Society – Articles, Analysis, Comment
Displaying 13151 - 13175 of 13344 articles
I was recently approached by a young journalist, who asked for my comments on the Feminist Porn Awards. In the course of the interview, she asked if I thought feminists should watch porn. I replied that…
Police lineups have long been used in criminal investigations. We have all seen TV shows depicting a witness trying to identify a bad guy from an array of people in a lineup. But in some areas using photos…
The UK government has released a Green Deal that, at face value, seems impossible to replicate in Australia. But how radical and ambitious is this policy? The first thing to note is that the Green Deal…
President Barack Obama has made a number of speeches focusing on events in the Middle East in recent weeks. Obama used a landmark speech regarding the uprisings in the Arab world to call on Israel to change…
The former National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party, Karl Bitar, has been appointed Head of Government Affairs for Crown Ltd, operators of Melbourne’s Crown Casino and Perth’s Burswood. It’s a…
There are several myths regarding what constitutes “porn addiction”. Some argue that, like alcohol problems, porn addiction is a disease. Once trapped, the consumer of porn will hit rock bottom with no…
The phrase “creative writing” is believed to have been first used by Emerson when he referred to creative writing and creative reading in his address ‘The American Scholar’ in 1837. The first classes in…
Some of the most famous and prestigious universities in the United States were founded after different regions offered inducements such as free land to attract a campus to their area. These university…
Australia has been a nation of immigrants since 1788. It has always sought additions to its population to increase its prosperity and economic strength. But two recent controversies have distracted us…
Greens leader Senator Bob Brown recently described attacks on his party by The Australian as being the work of a News Ltd “hate media”. News outlets owned by the Murdoch empire are renowned in the USA…
Indigenous difference has been “recognised” in the public law and policy of the western settler states of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States since the earliest days of colonial government…
The executive director of the venerable New York Times has come out fighting against Facebook and other social media. Bill Keller has joined the conga line of commentators decrying the end of friendships…
Tourists from all over the world head to Borneo for orangutans, unspoiled ancient rainforests and an insight into the traditional way of life of the Dayak people. This ecotourism is based on an idyllic…
In the 1980s Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko arguably became a neoliberal pin-up when he uttered the phrase: “Greed…is good. Greed works.” Fast forward to 2011 and there appears to be another creed: “Cream…
In Australian universities at the moment research is everything. They obsess over the rankings in the new ERA system which measures research performance. For academics publishing in the top journals isn’t…
“The Critical Decade” for climate change action is upon us. The Climate Commission’s first report, released today, says unless Australia takes action before 2020, our way of life is at threat. “The risks…
There are very few things that should ever be allowed near a Bedazzler. Dolly Parton, maybe. WWE wrestlers, perhaps. But never ever children. While glitzed and vamped-up little girls absolutely offend…
In the foreword to the international development assistance component of this year’s Federal Budget, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd gives cogent reasons for Australia’s position on foreign aid funding. He…
Around 15.6% of Australian adults have limited or no access to basic financial services like a transaction account, a credit card or insurance, putting them at risk of predatory lending, a new study has…
“To speak Chinese is not to know China,” our man in Beijing announced this week. “Many examples can be found of people who speak Mandarin to a high level but who do not understand how China works. They…
President Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East and North Africa yesterday is being considered a landmark event in US foreign policy. Made in the wake of the so-called Arab spring and the killing of…
Malcolm Turnbull created a stir on Lateline last night by criticising opposition climate policy. The opposition spokesman for communications and former leader of the party implied that Tony Abbott’s “direct…
How does gender affect the way people perceive Julia Gillard’s communication style? Australians’ responses to Julia Gillard seem complex and ambiguous, embodying the contradictions involved in how women…
Former US presidential speechwriter, the late William Safire, outlined the components of a perfect political speech as follows: “tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em – then tell ‘em – then tell ‘em what…