Australia's free Internet journal of social and political opinion
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We have hit another record high! Online journalism is maturing and coming of age.

On Line Opinion is still setting new records, last week we had 46,713 visits by readers to our journal and153,614 page views. Thanks go to all our readers and authors for their tremendous support.

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005

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Do you live in Western Australia?

Only one week to go to have your say in our poll on the WA elections.

By filling in our questionnaire you can help us and all our readers understand what is happening in the WA election. Our coverage is always different from the mainstream media because we ask the people that count, people like you. Help us to keep telling the news like it really is. Find the questionnaire here http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/onlinefocus/elections/questionnaire.asp?...

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Brisbane Institute: Evening seminar, Paul Wilson ‘Terrorism in the Philippines. March 1, 2005, 5.30pm for 6.00pm. Customs House, 399 Queens Street, Brisbane CBD. $22 general admission, $11 concession, free for BI members. RSVP by February 28, 2005, phone 07 3220 2198 or email r...@brisinst.org.au.

QUT Business Leaders' Forum – Dr David Suzuki will address the dinner function on March 1, 2005, at 7pm, Brisbane Hilton. Cost: $105. Faculty of Business Phone: 07 3231 3231 (Hilton) or Email: r.br...@qut.edu.au Web: http://www.bus.qut.edu.au/partnerships/leadersforum/

University of Sydney: Sydney Science Forum 2005: "Switch to Science”. Triple J presenter, Julius Sumner Miller Fellow and science 'multi-tasker' Dr Karl Kruszelnicki promises to dazzle, excite and stupefy with stories tall and short. Find out what's hot in science! March 16, 2005. Time: 5.30-6.45pm. Bookings/further information: email: i...@science.usyd.edu.au phone: (02) 9351 3021 fax: (02) 9351 4846 web: www.science.usyd.edu.au/school/sa_ssf.html

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The Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) has released two discussion papers on the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the community, in building social capital and in the nonprofit sector.

Interested parties are invited to provide comments and submissions. DCITA welcomes submissions in the form of responses to the discussion questions, comments or further information.

For more information visit: http://www.dcita.gov.au/ie/community_connectivity/community_ict_transfor...

Interested parties can provide comments on the papers via email comm...@dcita.gov.au or Tel: 02 6271 1473 or 02 6271 1689

The deadline for submissions and responses is Thursday March 31, 2005.

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New Articles

Liberal bleeding hearts
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3061
Cartoons - Mark Cornwall - posted 21/2/2005

Pub smoking in Australia: 20 years of fiddling and burning Part 1
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3062
Health - Simon Chapman - posted 21/2/2005

A setback for the US is a setback to democracy
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3021
Feature - Stephen Barton - posted 21/2/2005

Home grown and organic: A recipe for democratic success
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2999
Feature - Brett Bowden - posted 21/2/2005

Pax Americana
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3041
Feature - Alexander Deane - posted 21/2/2005

Quest for a sensible climate policy
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3048
Environment - Warwick McKibbin - posted 18/2/2005

The Kyoto Protocol is a small step towards slowing global warming
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3051
Environment - Bryson Bates - posted 18/2/2005

Book review: 'Liberty and Liberalism'
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3043
Political Philosophy - Gregory Melleuish - posted 18/2/2005

The Democrats are sinking
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3053
Domestic Politics - Richard Denniss - posted 18/2/2005

Catch the Fire and Daniel Scot’s (in)credible testimony
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3050
Religion & Spirituality - Mark Durie - posted 18/2/2005

Climate change: Let's ponder what is heading our way
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3047
Environment - Greg Bourne - posted 17/2/2005

Legal brief big on justice, but short on facts of war
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3045
Law & Liberties - Ted Lapkin - posted 17/2/2005

The UK Anti-Terrorism Act is an assault on freedom
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3031
Law & Liberties - Alexander Deane - posted 17/2/2005

Political agendas squeezing society's middle ground
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3040
Political Philosophy - Russ Grayson - posted 17/2/2005

All take and no give puts economy in reverse
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3035
Economics - Craig Emerson - posted 17/2/2005

Pure torture!
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2986
Cartoons - Mark Cornwall - posted 16/2/2005

So now Kyoto is a reality, will it get cooler?
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3034
Environment - Jennifer Marohasy - posted 16/2/2005

The blame game has gone too far when governments become guardians
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3042
Society - Caspar Conde - posted 16/2/2005

Ancient laws reign in new land
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3036
International - George Williams - posted 16/2/2005

Democrats - now known as the 'Others'
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3038
Domestic Politics - Andrew Murray - posted 16/2/2005

Why nuclear power is not the answer to global warming
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3039
Environment - John Busby - posted 16/2/2005

Vigilantes versus pedophiles - our community shame
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3033
Law & Liberties - Barbara Biggs - posted 15/2/2005

The Timor Sea grab
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3029
International - Tom Clarke - posted 15/2/2005

Winning government from opposition: has Colin Barnett got a clue?
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3037
Domestic Politics - Peter Tucker - posted 15/2/2005

Disability Support Pensions: the myths and the facts
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3030
Society - Andrew McCallum - posted 15/2/2005

Changes ahead for corporate social responsibility: the values tsunami
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3027
Law & Liberties - Peter Lanius - posted 15/2/2005

Cornelia Rau - lost in a black hole
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3032
Law & Liberties - Debbie Kilroy - posted 14/2/2005

Voters' bravery gives Iraq a real sight of liberty
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2998
International - Alexander Downer - posted 14/2/2005

Democracy is always exported, but most frequently without success
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3026
Feature - Greg Barns - posted 14/2/2005

Which democratic model should we export?
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3023
Feature - Peter Van Onselen and Wayne Errington - posted 14/2/2005

With our own 'counterfeit' democracy how can we possibly export it?
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3003
Domestic Politics - Tim Anderson - posted 14/2/2005

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February 21, 2005

Ambit Gambit

Lawrence get your shotgun?
Budding match-maker Lawrence Springborg has been trying to force a shot-gun wedding on his shy bride, the Queensland Libs. I had always assumed he was the groom, or at least had an enduring power of attorney on the groom's behalf.... More
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/domain/

Tim Blair

AUSTRALIA, HOME OF THE HOPPER
Stephen Hopper, lawyer to tortured depressive Islamic entrepreneur Mamdouh Habib, continues his charm offensive with the Australian media:
ANDREW BOLT: Mr Hopper, Andrew Bolt from the Herald Sun. Before I get to my question can I just ask you, just in passing, I saw a newspaper reference that you’d been - you’re a convert to Islam, is that true?
http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/australia_home_of_the_hopper/

Catallaxy

Nouveau riche names
Why are we not suprised that the latest addition to the Beckham family has another unusual name, with Brooklyn and Romeo scoring a new brother, Cruz? I suspect nouveau riche behaviour has always extended to ostentatious names for kids, but the The Age recently reported on the number of kids named ...
http://badanalysis.com/catallaxy/index.php?p=653

Imagining Australia

Ramsey on Iraq
What do you do when the SMH doesn't publish your letter? Put it on your blog, of course.The question of how many civilian deaths have occurred in Iraq is too important to be treated with the sloppiness Alan Ramsey displayed... More
http://imaginingaustralia.blogs.com/imagining/2005/02/ramsey_on_iraq.htm...

Public Opinion

Economic Reform: RBA style
Australia will have to get used to years of stunted growth and higher interest rates as the economy hits the... More
http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/002911.php

Faris CQ
Invalid Pensioner Habib to repay SS Benefits
FORMER Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib would most likely have to repay social security benefits paid to him while he was travelling in Pakistan, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said today. Reports last week said Mr Habib left Australia without telling Centrelink and continued to receive payments while travelling overseas. I wonder if ...
http://www.farisqc.observationdeck.org/index.php?p=107

February 18, 2005

John Quiggin

A new appeal
The fundraising appeal for tsunami relief was a big success, and it seems to me that the exercise is worth trying again. As a community, we seemed to be happier when we were focusing at least some of our thoughts on helping others than in our usual isolated consumer ...
http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2005/02/17/a-new-appeal/

Tim Blair

DISRUPTERS DISRUPTED
Several readers have forwarded this London Times story:
When 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange yesterday, they had planned the operation in great detail.
What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement.
“We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs,” one protester said,
http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/disrupters_disrupted/

Catallaxy

Miss Middle Australia?
Apparently, the 'Devine Miss M' has scored a profile in the Bulletin: For 12 years, Sydney's own divine Miss M has written a take-no-prisoners opinion column. As a result, some people want to bed her, others want her slowly tortured. She’s that good. It’s personal, a column. Or it’s meant to ...
http://badanalysis.com/catallaxy/index.php?p=639

Public Opinion

work and politics
This is a good article by Barbara Pococke in The Australian about the changing patterns of work and its implications... More
http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/002905.php

Troppo Armadillo

Lock her up and throw away the key?
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has just reduced by 10 years the head sentence of Kathleen Folbigg, who was convicted of the murder of 3 of her infant children and manslaughter of a fourth over a 10 year period.... More
http://troppoarmadillo.ubersportingpundit.com/archives/008520.html

February 17, 2005

John Quiggin

Misrepresentations
In an interesting tribute to the impact of blogs, the latest issue Centre for Independent Studies magazine Policy includes a lengthy article by Sinclair Davidson, entitled Taxation with Misrepresentation (PDF), which appears to be a response to this blog post, criticising an earlier article in the same journal. If ...
http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2005/02/16/misrepresentations/

Tim Blair

WE BE BAAAAAD
Greens senator Bob Brown has flown his hemp-hulled solar jet to Kyoto so he can celebrate Super Important Planet-Saving Protocol Day:
"Everyone here in Japan knows that the Australian government is an environmental bad boy," he said.
Everyone? Bob presumably doesn’t include the business leaders who refused to meet Mister Monotone during his sushi holiday.
http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/we_be_baaaaad/

From the sidelines....

Is India a better fit for Australia?
Link: MBA in Australia: Democracies do very well over the long term.. The India or China debate has been increasing for sometime now. Strangely, in the past week I have read three articles where India rather than China has come... More
http://trevorcook.typepad.com/election/2005/02/is_india_a_bett.html

Troppo Armadillo

Kath and Kim, Jen and Ken, Lynton and Mark
Our new home is on the wrong side of the Nightcliff peninsula in Darwin, the Rapid Creek side where part-Aboriginal families were housed from the early 1960s. The area long ago began to be gentrified, but it still bears the... More
http://troppoarmadillo.ubersportingpundit.com/archives/008515.html

Imagining Australia

Popular Economics
A casual dig by Ross Gittens the other day at academic economists got me thinking. Here’s what he said:That leaves the battalion of academic economists, to whom we give the privilege of academic freedom in the hope they'll make just... More
http://imaginingaustralia.blogs.com/imagining/2005/02/popular_economi.ht...

Kyoto Dreaming
My Imagining Australia coauthor David Madden has an opinion piece in today's SMH, which may ruffle a few feathers. It begins:Thirteen years after the Rio Earth Summit and more than seven years after the deal was struck, the Kyoto Protocol... More
http://imaginingaustralia.blogs.com/imagining/2005/02/kyoto_dreaming.htm...

February 16, 2005

Ambit Gambit

What's the right amount of CO2 in the atmosphere?
Today the Kyoto protocol comes into effect. As a result the media has been deluged with a tsunami of pro and anti-Kyoto voices, but I have yet to hear anyone ask, or answer, the most pertinent issue of all: What... More
http://nationalforum.com.au/the_domain/archives/ambit_gambit/000510.html

Charles and Camilla - substance over form
Valentine's Day made me think about Charles and "the Rotweiller", as Camilla was apparently nicknamed by Diana, Princess of Wales. "So, how did you define love?" my beloved asked, as we were sitting on my not-at-all-royal balcony. "I didn't," I... More
http://nationalforum.com.au/the_domain/archives/ambit_gambit/000509.html

John Quiggin

Kyoto comes into effect
This is a good day for the planet, which has had mostly bad days lately. Still, even with US (and FWIW, Australian) participation, Kyoto would only have been a first step towards tackling global warming. As it is, we have a first step towards a first step.
http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2005/02/16/kyoto-comes-into-ef...

Tim Blair

U-TURN ON CHESS
The Guardian reports:
Iraq’s Arab Sunnis will do a U-turn and join the political process despite their lack of representation in the newly elected national assembly, Sunni leaders said yesterday.
Many Sunnis protested that the election was flawed and unfair
http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/u_turn_on_chess/

Catallaxy

An Ali G interlude
I've lived without a TV for almost a year now and sites like this reminds me that amid all the dross there is some pretty good stuff I'm missing too: Ali G speaking with George Paton Orange Lodge Grandmaster in N Ireland... Ali : Would you ever marry a protestant girl? George ...
http://badanalysis.com/catallaxy/index.php?p=634

Troppo Armadillo

Do you want your 'text' boiled, fried, stewed or thoroughly scrambled with that?
A propos of my post yesterday, on English in school, I'd like to present to you the assignment my son brought home yesterday afternoon from school, an assignment which exemplifies everything I've been talking about. he was, by the way,... More
http://troppoarmadillo.ubersportingpundit.com/archives/008509.html

February 15, 2005

John Quiggin

Habib’s day in court
Having seen Mamdouh Habib's 60 Minutes interview the other night, I'm keener than ever that he should have his day in court. I think it's clear enough that Habib's allegations that he was tortured in detention are true in general (why else would he have been shipped to Egypt?) and ...
http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2005/02/15/habibs-day-in-court...

Tim Blair

BELIEVE IT OR NOT
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Mike Carlton was sceptical about the existence of Saddam Hussein’s people shredder; after all, what business would someone like Saddam have with such a device?
So it’ll be interesting to read on Saturday what Mike thinks about Mamdouh Habib’s Electrified Treadmill of Tormentulation:
http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/believe_it_or_not/

Catallaxy

Big ideas or no idea?
One of the AFR's problems is that while its audience is overwhelmingly business people, its journalists, like journalists generally, tend to the left. Take for instance its Big Ideas sessions to be run in Melbourne and Sydney in the next couple of months. Its blurb says: What are the ideas ...
http://badanalysis.com/catallaxy/index.php?p=624

Troppo Armadillo

English at school..
The usual stoush over education guarantees the usual old left wing/right wing divide, arguments about po-mo, deconstruction, etc. I'd like to bring the matter back to a more realistic level--the level of schools themselves. I have contact with schools all... More
http://troppoarmadillo.ubersportingpundit.com/archives/008502.html

The Road To Surfdom

Subcontinental as anything
Here's another article I didn't get to during the great spam meltdown of two weeks ago. It's a TNR piece about India, and as this blog has become India central since this post, I thought it was worth highlighting.
http://www.roadtosurfdom.com/surfdomarchives/003048.php

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Regards,
Graham Young
Chief Editor

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On Line Opinion is owned and published by National Forum.

Editorial Advisory Board:
Brian Johns, Leonie Kramer, Michael Kelly, Peter Donoughue, Ray Evans, Michael Williams, Kathy Sullivan, Tom Worthington, Julian Cribb, Helen O'Neil, Lucy Turnbull.

Acknowledgement of Collaborative Editors
The following people and groups have collaborated in producing this edition of On Line Opinion, please visit their websites to find out more about their organisations:

Carly Hammond and James Ensor,
Oxfam Community Aid Abroad
http://www.caa.org.au/;

Terry Flew,
QUT
http://www.creativeindustries.qut.edu.au/