Arena Magazine articles from June 2002

Arena Magazine archives from June 2002

Leaving them out for the dingoes.(social policy and political scapegoats)(Editorial)
June 1, 2002... Following,the budget, the first draft of this editorial began `So now it is the turn of the disabled to be the new scapegoats'. But we did not reckon with the speed and efficiency of the Howard Government. One week in and junior Minister Mal...

The march of unfreedom.(crack-down on civil liberties)(Editorial)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The hawks are surely right. The aftermath of the World Trade Center attack will lead to unprecedented turmoil and chaos. Look at what's happened to the government's proposed anti-terror legislation for example. As Damien Lawson notes, this...

The new world of risk: the failure of high profile insurance giants has, paradoxically, obscured the phenomenal changes in global economic life that are radically undermining our capacity for local automony and self-sufficiency. (against the current).
June 1, 2002... The collapse of the medical insurer UMP, following similiar crises at FAI and HIH, has put the problem of risk once again at the centre of social and economic debate. Yet much of this discussion has focussed on the specific errors of individual...

The chemistry of war: forget the demonisation of Iraq. Chemical weaponry is the preferred choice of world leaders. It can spread diseases to those who are vulnerable to them, kill in minutes and leave infrastructure and industry untouched. (against the current).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The Western world has not always found the use of chemical weapons in war to be morally abhorrent. In 1919 Winston Churchill, then secretary of state at the British war office, was a keen advocate of what today--when others seek to acquire...

Kurdistan--what are the prospects? After a century of betrayal and bloody repression the Kurdish people wait to see whether history will repeat itself. (against the current).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Despite the interruption of the war in the Middle East, it appears that George W. Bush is determined to complete Pop's unfinished business with Saddam Hussein. Attention has once again turned to the Kurds, and their long struggle for...

Beyond north and south--Woomera 2002: on the razor wire frontier of the Global North and South, protest and autonomous action combined to chart a new course of militancy for Australia's refugee movement. (against the current).(protest at the Woomera Detention Centre, Australia)
June 1, 2002... The history of militancy is the history of the desire to stand at the limits, to stand at the crossroads The history of militancy is the history of the struggle with fear The history of militancy is the triumph to see oneself and others...

Democratic blues in Zimbabwe: in the wake of Mugabe's election neither local powers of resistance nor global balance of forces give much cause for optimism about the prospect of success for a democratic movement for land reform. (against the current).
June 1, 2002... March 10 2002 had been a long day. After visiting half a dozen polling stations in Harare's townships, Wilfred Mhanda climbed out of a borrowed ute. He had witnessed kilometre-long queues; seen voters angry at having to wait nearly two days to...

Fighting a new terror; opposition to the government's proposed anti-terror laws has united a bizarrely wide amalgam of political groups. Is there hope to preserve such civil liberties as remain? (against the current).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The government's planned anti-terrorism laws had a significant set back this month, with the Attorney General forced to remove the bills from the Parliamentary Budget sitting. Howard has now taken on the difficult task of suppressing a...

Shelter.(Poem)
June 1, 2002... Shelter Shelter's nevus: a mass of cormorants on Cabot Beach, an engorged lung from a mile offshore; it presses the ribs of surf with the swelter of tar. They sense the tribunal of thunder, the splash of nocturne again with...

Right and revenue: the price of an education: the newly elected leadership of East Timor will have to battle to project their legacy of oil and gas reserves in a global arena of multinational giants and power-wielding western governments. (against the current).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Generations of East Timorese people have been born, lived and died with the ceaseless threat of intimidation, invasion, destruction, and murder. The East Timorese have not experienced the right to choose, or the existence of wealth independent...

The Things You Are.(Poem)
June 1, 2002... The Things You Are You are an ill-lit archive where extinct brands of ice-cream are filed under Lickety Split. You're all the hardships your ancestors came through what you swallowed a couple of hours ago and a set of...

The end-user certificate and arms smuggling: international arms control protocols aren't worth the paper they're printed on. (against the current).
June 1, 2002... The illegal arms trade is worth anywhere between US$2-10 billion per year, depending on who is doing the estimating and demand that particular year. The sellers in the illegal arms trade vary from small traders (often based in Europe) to...

Philip Mendes responds to Jeremy Salt on Armageddon in the Middle East. (letters and debate).
June 1, 2002... I am very disappointed at my old friend Jeremy Salt's one-sided anti-Israel monologue (Arena Magazine no. 58). Salt claims to endorse peace, but in the face of horrific violence from both sides, it is common sense that any peace initiatives...

A call for an Australian boycott of research and culturallinks with Israel. (letters and debate).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Despite widespread international condemnation for its policy of violent repression against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories, the Israeli government appears impervious to moral appeals from world leaders. It is clear that while...

Christopher Mallon: Armani fascism. (letters and debate).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The first round election victory of Jean-Marie Le Pen issued a warning of the impending new wave of hard-right and extreme right-wing politicians and possible governments across a united Europe. Having gained notoriety in France 30 years ago...

Realpolitik. (letters and debate).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... At least our government had the teeth To get rid of Peter Reith. If it's in trouble then it ought to Throw more children in the water.

Sami becoming a nation. (against the current).(Norwegian indigenous peoples)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... In early May 2002, the Australian optimistically reported a change in Prime Minister Howard's attitude to multiculturalism, in response to him speaking a little more softly on the subject (`PM's reconciliation hopes', 6/5/02). This seems...

Australia, the US and the missile shield: loyal deputy as human sacrifice? The Howard government's collusion with America's missile defense shield betrays a fundamental ignorance of current arms proliferation. Our communal safety and capacity to remain at peace may be fatally compromised. (Features).
June 1, 2002... Australia, not mature enough to develop its own autonomy, is now cosying up to America. Intimately involved in many aspects of the American military system--espionage activities, early warning systems, planning and testing Star Wars,...

The small matter of our humanity. (Essay).
June 1, 2002... CLONING, EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH, XENOTRANSPLANTATION, GENETIC SCREENING... THE ONSLAUGHT OF NEW MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL TECHNOLOGIES ARE PUSHING US TOWARDS A POSTHUMAN FUTURE WHOSE MEANINGS, POSSIBILITIES AND PERIL WE HAVE BARELY BEGUN TO...

To Beirut. (Memoir).
June 1, 2002... Sunday night The night bus from Ankara rushes through the snow, a toy on a magnetised black strip. Not even the tops of houses or tips of trees show through the enveloping whiteness. At six in the morning Dortyol and then Iskanderun;...

Greening corporations or scoring greenbacks? Does corporate engagement represent an opportunity for green groups to increase commercial environmental responsibility, or is their faith in self-regulation misguided and inviting abuse? (Features).
June 1, 2002... Much of the mainstream environment movement in Australia continues to struggle with a sense of its political positioning. Green groups (with a small number of exceptions) continue to be noticeably absent from contemporary community...

Fat chances in an anorexic culture: indulgence, gratification, guilt and punishment--does weight control indicate a greater control over life and happiness? Does fat mean failure? (Features).
June 1, 2002... Society condemns what it most encourages. In a culture which lives by the provocation of appetite for pleasurable substances, heroin is illegal. Conversely, a full-on attempt to attack appetite at the root and eat the minimum provokes horror,...

How I learned to love the great green beast. (Features).(adventures in lawn care)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Let it go, I longed to tell my neighbour. Let it all go. During an otherwise comprehensive tour of his garden, Paul had skirted one edge of his front lawn, apparently anxious that I shouldn't spot the shame that lay there. Shaded by a rock...

Gary Willis on installation art in Australia.(What is Installation?)
June 1, 2002... Adam Geczy and Benjamin Genocchio (Editors), What is Installation? Power Publications, Power Institute, University of Sydney: Sydney, 2001. Take one glance at the number of big glossy publications on the table of your arts book shop or...

Christopher Hawkes on Rabbit-Proof Fence.
June 1, 2002... In the closing moments of Rabbit-Proof Fence, two elderly half-caste Aboriginal women stand in a bush landscape and look directly into the lens of a video camera. The accompanying voice-over identifies them as Molly Kelly and Daisy Kadibil,...