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Not brave enough

Braveheart Starring Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan and Catherine McCormack Produced and directed by Mel Gibson Reviewed by Barry Healy Scottish history is particularly colourful and fascinating. The wild clans of the Picts

... and ain't i a woman?: Cutting schools off at the knees

Cutting schools off at the knees The recent federal budget contained a little item which was apparently regarded as so unimportant, it didn't even rate a mention in the media coverage. Funding to a gender equity program in high schools was

The truth about privatisation

By Karl Miller MELBOURNE — The Victorian Liberal government is on a privatisation binge. Its privatisation plans and accomplishments include: electricity generation, electricity transmission/distribution, water distribution, gas

The politics of 'corruption'

The politics of 'corruption' By Tim Anderson Images of brothel owners and small time drug-dealers paying off corrupt police have created excitement at the NSW police royal commission. Some commentators have rather breathlessly suggested

Death penalty abolished

Death penalty abolished By Norm Dixon A ruling by South Africa's Constitutional Court that capital punishment is no longer lawful has been met with celebration by death row prisoners, praise from human rights groups and outrage by

Inspired collaboration

Canto General: Song of the people Brisbane City Hall Auditorium, May 31 Directed by Mark Dunbar Presented by BEMAC and Brisbane Biennial International Music Festival Reviewed by Lynda Hansen Canto General was presented to 1500 people

'Not a dream, but a necessity'

By Trish Corcoran Young people around Australia are discussing the state of world politics in preparation for the 24th national conference of Resistance. The conference will be held in Melbourne, July 8-10. The discussion is wide-ranging:

Yeltsin plans election victory — without the voters

By Boris Kagarlitsky MOSCOW — Less than six months before the date set for fresh elections to parliament, electoral blocs are being formed, and the press is forecasting the likely distribution of seats in the lower house, the State Duma.

NSW forests policy a partial victory

By Lisa Macdonald SYDNEY — The new Labor government announced its forests industry reform plan for NSW on June 13. A central plank of the ALP's state election campaign in March, the plan has been cautiously welcomed by the peak environment

French Greens oppose nuclear testing

Shortly after the newly elected conservative president Jacques Chirac announced that nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific would be resumed on June 13, the French Green Party issued a statement, reprinted below, condemning the decision. The

Whose bank now?

By Eva Cheng In 1993, finance minister (now treasurer) Ralph Willis publicly assured us that the federal government has "no intention whatever" of reducing its ownership of the Commonwealth Bank to less than 50.1%. The statement was made

Bank robbery: the great fees rip-off

By Chow Wei-Cheng We are witnessing most brazen bank robbery of them all. The top four banks this year alone will reap a massive $5.2 billion in profits from customers and workers. Yet they are crying poor and introducing schemes to increase the