National Observer - Australia and World Affairs articles from January 2004

National Observer - Australia and World Affairs archives from January 2004

Editorial comment.
January 1, 2004... THE A.B.C. AND S.B.S.: BASTIONS OF THE STATE-SUBSIDISED LEFT Are there any employees of the Australian Broadcasting Commission who are not supporters of the Labor Party or the Greens? If there are such, they are obviously few and modest in...

Independence in the Pacific: France's positive approach.
January 1, 2004... Early in June, New Caledonia's President, Pierre Frogier, who is also a member of the French Lower House in Paris, told fellow M.P.s that "Pacific island states were falling into anarchy". Frogier was speaking during debates in the French...

Doctors, insurance and unnecessary operations.
January 1, 2004... The concerns of doctors, especially obstetricians, about the rising costs of medical indemnity insurance are frequently in the news at the moment. While one has sympathy for an obstetrician who is sued when a baby is unexpectedly disabled,...

The continuing legacy of the sixties.
January 1, 2004... The Sixties ushered in a cultural revolution which is still under way: almost, it seems, out of control. It took its name from the great upheavals which raged in Communist China, also in the late Sixties. While shamelessly parasitic upon the...

The Bush doctrine and the emerging new world order.
January 1, 2004... The war in Iraq heralds the coming of a new international order. At issue are implications for how the world should be run. The United States is bitterly disappointed with the United Nations and the failure of major powers such as France,...

American jottings: notes from a small trip in a big country.
January 1, 2004... When a journalist asked John XXIII how long a visitor should stay in Rome, the Pope allegedly replied: "One week, good. One month, better. One year, not long enough." In other words, as long as one cannot pretend to completeness in one's...

Treachery: the Communist Party and the Labor Party.
January 1, 2004... Two days after the outbreak of World War II the Australian Labor Party Executive passed a resolution, endorsed unanimously by Caucus, which was evidently intended to bring Hitler and the Panzer divisions pouring into Poland smartly to heel...

Affirmative action for judges.(Legal Notes)
January 1, 2004... The traditional basis on which judges have been appointed is merit. The most able have been chosen from experienced Queen's Counsel of good reputation. In some instances there have been departures from the merit principle, by reference to...

The Twilight of the Elites.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Professor David Flint Melbourne: Freedom Publishing (582 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne 3051), 2003, pages 242 and index, $29.95 During the past forty years especially elite groups in Australia have acquired a disproportionate...

Iraq.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Dilip Hiro London, Granta Books, 2002-2003, pages 264 and index, $24.95 Born in India, Hiro settled in London and has become a well-known commentator on international issues. Iraq was written by him in order to provide a picture of...

The Global Reach of Empire.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Professor Alan Frost Melbourne: The Miegunyah Press (Melbourne University Publishing), 2003, pages 368 and index, $59.95. Professor Frost holds a Personal Chair in History at La Trobe University, Melbourne. His book is a study of...