Unleashed presents diverse and robust opinion about politics, society, belief and behaviour.
Last Updated: 6/01/2009 3:52:05 PM
6 January 2009, 16:00
Man bites shark
The latest media reports of shark sightings might scare swimmers from the beach, but Corey Bradshaw suggests sharks have more reason to be afraid of us.
"Australia is famous for its nearly 100-year-old pioneering attempt to protect marine bathers from shark attack by setting an elaborate array of shark nets around the country's more frequented beaches. Great, you say? Well, it's actually not that nice." More...
6 January 2009, 12:30
The arts community must try harder
Chris Puplick argues that artists need to become better lobbyists if their sector is to attract more government funding.
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
6 January 2009, 09:30
Stranger than kindness
Mark Mordue wonders why anger has a leading role in today's society, whilst kindness waits in the wings hoping to be called forth.
"...it's vaguely agreed that rage sets in when we no longer truly connect, and so it is that angry feelings flow sociologically too, from the disenfranchised towards the relatively better off, from the intelligent towards the glib and stupid, from the stupid and oppressed and beaten back towards the superior and the condescending, from the average towards the different." More...
5 January 2009, 14:30
Menzies still matters
Delivering the annual Menzies lecture in Melbourne recently, conservative commentator Gerard Henderson argued that Menzies still matters.
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
5 January 2009, 11:00
The big push
Mother guilt has a new battle-front, writes Rebecca Martin.
"How did the manner in which we give birth, once a very private affair done behind closed doors, become a matter for social debate, concern and meddling?" More...
5 January 2009, 09:00
Where's the respect?
An advertisement for tampons was complained about more than any other in 2008. Kaz Cooke was among those to lodge a complaint and is utterly furious about how ads and billboards demean women for laughs and shock value.
"But enough's ebloodynough and recently I got so cross I wrote two letters of complaint. First, I wrote to the Advertising Standards Board and about a TV ad in which a woman is accompanied by an animatronic-looking beaver. Beaver, incidentally, is a word used in American pornography to mean vulva or vagina. It's not commonly used at all in Australia, either by women, or men who have half a brain or don't want to be thrown out of the house." More...
2 January 2009, 12:30
And death shall have no dominion
New Year is a time to look forward. But Susan Merrell says it's also a time to reflect and she wonders why we are not better at remembering our loved ones.
"What is gut-wrenchingly sad in this inevitable cycle of life is that in no time at all, we'll forget. All the little people who once led happy, productive, unremarkable lives will simply disappear from our lives and our consciousness far too soon after their deaths." More...
2 January 2009, 11:00
2008: the year the penny dropped
David Long says last year's financial crisis has shown that it doesn't matter how governments react when it's the system of operation that is at fault.
"There is a gulf between a political science that espouses the principles of a free society and an economic science that promotes free markets as if they are identical. Free trade, markets without rules, does not and can not exist. Yet they are espoused as a standard for a well ordered economy by both Labor and Liberal alike and endorsed last May by the Secretary of the Treasury." More...
2 January 2009, 09:00
Kevin's heaven
David Barnett says that the global financial crisis has proved a windfall for the Prime Minister and whilst the Opposition jostle for position, Kevin Rudd's looking towards an easily-won second term.
"it's beginning to look as if Kevin Rudd will get his second term. The GFC - Global Financial Crisis to you and me - is turning out to be Kevin's lucky number. It has cloaked his irresponsibility with respectability. Get in there, grab the surplus inherited from John Howard and Peter Costello, and chuck it all about in lumps of $8 or $10 billion at a time, and call base political vote-buying 'pumping liquidity into the system.'" More...
1 January 2009, 16:00
Network politics
Barak Obama proved the value of the internet during his Presidential campaign. 2009 will teach us how well political power can be redistributed via the internet, says Mark Pesce.
"If Obama remains true to this commitment, he will turn to the American people for their input, for their help, for their encouragement, not just when the chips are down, but consistently throughout the next four years. This is why the emails keep landing in my inbox. Obama doesn't need my cash. He needs my network." More...
1 January 2009, 12:30
Rudd's year to come
Kevin Rudd likes to be in control and 2009 was supposed to be the year his plans for Australia began to take effect. But the global economic crisis has changed the playing field, writes Paul Daley
"Rudd, meanwhile, finds himself at the end of his first year in government in the unenviable position of having to jettison core promises of reform – on climate change, on tax and welfare, on defence and education – because of the economic slowdown." More...
31 December 2008, 15:00
Massacre of the innocents
Bob Ellis tries to make sense of Israel's strategy in Gaza and wonder's why our leaders are so quiet.
"They bomb universities. They kill children on their way home from school. They target the duly elected leaders of neighbouring countries for assassination. They cut off the electricity that keeps babies alive in humidicribs, thus ensuring they die. They bomb tunnels through which food comes to the hungry. They hoard atomic bombs, deny they've got them, and plan to stop the neighbours they thereby threaten from getting any of their own. They killed with explosions this weekend as many people as the Bali bombers and Julia Gillard said they were right to do this." More...
31 December 2008, 13:00
Israel no victim
Peter Slezak and Antony Loewenstein
Dr Peter Slezak and Antony Loewenstein reply to Vic Alhadeff's analysis of Israel's assault on Gaza.
"Israeli victim-hood is the premise on which the public relations machine relies to warrant their military actions. On this picture, a well-meaning, peace-loving Israel offers generous treaties and truces that are rejected by fanatical, fundamentalist terrorists in favour of murdering Jews. The story line is that, finally, Israel had no choice but to invade the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas. This story can only convince an audience that does not know the facts..." More...
31 December 2008, 12.00
Resolving resolutions
2008 was a resolution-shattering year for many, but, says Gregor Stronach, that won't and shouldn't stop us from forging new ones in the white hot heat of December 31 celebration.
"Businesses collapsed. People lost their homes. And a guy I know whose job it was to make sure this sort of thing didn't happen skipped town to go skiing at Whistler, British Columbia... But as nice as it is to look back at the year that was, there's another important part of the festive season that we should be looking forward to. As the new year is rung in, around the world the traditional making of promises we have no intention of keeping will take place. We call them 'New Years Resolutions'." More...
31 December 2008, 09:00
Women under the influence
As we prepare for a big night out on New Year's Eve, Tracy Quan reflects on women's shifting drinking habits and wonders if, in the battle of the sexes, this is where women are coming out on top.
"In America, feminist peer pressure is turning educated women into aspirational sots: the more degrees you have and the higher your income, the more likely you are to become a lifelong drinker. Since American men drink less than in the past, and we keep tippling ahead, the sexes are finally achieving alcoholic parity. It's an area in which women lagged. We've come so far that it's fashionable (or soon will be) to bemoan our new equality." More...
30 December 2008, 16:30
The Rubbish Tip Man
Gerard Oosterman laments the culture of shopping and marvels at the ingenuity of recycling as he wanders consumerism's graveyard at his local tip.
"No matter what the guru conjurers will pull out of the hat for us to consume, sooner or later, most of it will pass the Rubbish Tip Man. At an ever faster pace, the ever shrinking lifespan of consumables means we either go to the tip more often or our trailers are getting bigger." More...
30 December 2008, 16:00
Surrogacy and the law
The medical advances that enable surrogacy pregnancies have developed much faster than the legislation which surrounds them.
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
30 December 2008, 12:15
Questions for Hamas
Israel has every right to protect its citizens from Hamas rocket attacks, says Vic Alhadeff.
"It is true that international law imposes a requirement of proportionality on the use of force in self-defence. The recourse to force in self-defence must be limited to the objective of halting or repelling the attack and preventing a recurrence. But it is a misconception to think this means the extent of the force used must be equivalent in some sense to the extent of the force used in the initial attack." More...
30 December 2008, 09:00
What's in a name?
Donald Brook wonders what a rose by any other name has in it's cupboard.
"Who, after all, is about to confess to a clerk across a counter that her proposed change of name to Julia Gillard is no more than a step toward a devious acquisition of the Deputy Prime Ministership, perhaps with some credit card fraud thrown in? The exemplary reasons helpfully suggested by the authorities themselves are much more likely to be offered; as, for example, to take the natural father's name after being born out of wedlock, or to identify with the foreign nationality of one's great-grandparents..." More...
29 December 2008, 15:00
A mother's work
Yvette Blackwood wonders why Australia lags behind the rest of the world when the benefits of paid maternity leave are obvious.
"Countries with paid maternity leave have better childhood and maternal health figures. Paid maternity leave isn't solely a women's issue or a feminist issue. It's a preventative health initiative. It benefits women, men and children. Women go back to the workforce at the right time, not after six short weeks." More...
29 December 2008, 13:15
Patchwork Australia
Anyone weighing their film options during the holiday period should still consider Baz Luhrmann's Australia. Despite its heavy borrowing from Australian classics and glaring historical inaccuracies, David Barnett argues it is a deserving choice.
"I never saw a drover, or any other bushman, wearing a revolver in a holster on his belt. They were illegal during the period covered by the movie. Not even the police, in those days, had personal weapons." More...
29 December 2008, 11:15
Celebrate reason
The irrational teachings of organised religions encourage their followers to produce large families and the fact is our planet can't cope, writes Peter Taylor. More...
29 December 2008, 09:00
And so it went
Bob Ellis looks back on the year that was, and the year that wasn't.
"Israel's weekend Shock and Awe attack on Gaza (further evidence of its Old Testament policy of eight hundred eyes for an eye) has transformed it, at last, into a pariah nation - one that's killed more innocents this year than Zimbabwe - and impaired Obama's capacity to seem just and do good across the world with Congressional backing. That Olmert, a failed and loathed Prime Minister heading for gaol on corruption charges can do this, kill children on their way home from school and young policemen at their graduation parade in a series of airborne terrorist acts like 9/11, means Israel is no longer a democracy and should suffer sanctions as Cuba does, and get no more American billions for its muscular bombastic lunacy. A bad year's end that blows nobody good." More...
26 December 2008, 16:30
A measure of seamanship
Rebecca Islin is racing in the Sydney-Hobart for the first time this year. It is the culmination of a long-held dream. Here, she explains the allure of this great ocean race.
"In my mind the Sydney-Hobart became the measure of my seamanship. Was I good enough, experienced enough, to sail this race? I could make a boat sail faster, but could I steer through 8-meter seas and 50-knot winds, could I keep it afloat if damaged? Was I brave enough? I am not one to seek out possible danger, but I had to find out. I had to sail this race." More...
26 December 2008, 13:45
An imaginary land
David Horton imagines life as a climate change denier and reveals his strategy for winning influence.
"Each time an environmental issue arises I will phone the television networks and introduce myself as, say, the Head of the Rivers Division, Murrumbidgee Science Institute. The tv stations, desperate for balance, and faced with the unanimous opinion of all the freshwater scientists of Australia, will be delighted to hear a dissenting view. And so it goes." More...
26 December 2008, 09:15
Test of resolve
2008 was a disappointing year for Australian cricket. As the second Test gets underway today, Dileep Premachandran wonders where does captain Ricky Ponting go from here?
"When Ricky Ponting's men started 2008 with a record-equalling 16th consecutive Test match victory, it seemed as though it would be business as usual. That Sydney win was heavily tinged with controversy, and in years to come cricket historians may look upon it as the end of an era of dominance that may never be matched." More...
25 December 2008, 10:00
The real meaning of Christmas
The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, explores the relevance of Christmas to our modern lives.
"After all, if you wish to be positive about Christmas, you will look for its essence in two things. First, something which is moderately relevant (and what could be more relevant than world peace? Ask the beauty queens in Miss Congeniality). Second, something which most people can agree on - and if you want across the board agreement about the meaning of Christmas, you need to go for something which is popular and not overtly religious. What can be better than 'peace on earth and good will towards men'?" More...
25 December 2008, 09.30
God in the lowest
Father Bob believes that even if you're allergic to a religious Christmas you can still give comfort to strangers.
"Thanks to people, feeling the pinch themselves, who still share what they have with others. We know and honour you who give glory to God in the lowest." More...
24 December 2008, 14.15
Another Christmas turkey
Nostalgic for the Christmas fun of her childhood memories, Carolyn Boyd wonders if Christmas as a grown-up is worth the effort.
"I love the idea of Christmas. All happy families, fabulous gifts that answer my heart's desire and food to die for that I could never imagine having for the rest of the year. It's just that sometimes it fails to deliver, and part of me wonders whether it's my own fault. Are my expectations just too high?" More...
24 December 2008, 13.15
Christmas in Bethlehem 2008
The real Bethlehem now has little in common with the town from our Christmas fairytale.
"Although we normally associate Beyt Lahm with peace on earth and goodwill to all men, not much goodwill gets shown at the Israeli checkpoints, border crossings etc. In the nearby Christian village of Beyt Jala, Jewish settlements are being built on stolen land. Then again, suicide bombers don't show much goodwill either." More...
24 December 2008, 11.15
Faith's journey
Father Michael Kelly discusses the profound but illogical path to Christian faith.
"What the Christmas story says is that the ancients knew as much about evil as we could ever describe. But it also says that's not all that is to be known. This story may sound attractive, even moving, as a way to interpret life. But to many in our Western culture, rightly proud of and grateful for the power of the mind and the achievements of science, it is illogical. But I'm afraid it is illogical!" More...
24 December 2008, 09.00
Christmas tales from a Veggiequarium
Ian Shadwell's decision to become vegetarian still disappoints his parents, but never so much as at Christmas time.
"My favorite song was Meat is Murder by The Smiths. Somehow, I had become a vegan, a very thin vegan. Old ladies would tutt sadly as I walked past them on the street. Some would offer me sponge rolls, which I would turn down on account of them containing, eggs, animal lard and lactose sugar. Trips to the supermarket would involve careful scrutiny of ingredient lists, searching for such evils as dried milk powder." More...
