Culture

  • Checkpoint: a statement against censorship

    Checkpoint is a series of life-sized depictions of armed soldiers, which were to be placed at various locations in Blacktown in November 2004. The "checkpoints for weapons of mass distraction" were intended to confront people with

  • Challenges of a US labour lawyer

    Which Side Are You On? Trying to Be for Labor When It's Flat on Its BackBy Thomas GeogheganThe New Press, 2004355 pages, $37 (pb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON An unhappy love affair drove Thomas Geoghegan to his unexpected career as a labour lawyer.

  • Repression and resistance in Aceh

    Indonesia's Secret War in AcehBy John MartinkusRandom House340 pages, $32.95 (pb) REVIEW BY JON LAMB The social and political impact of the tsunami tragedy in Aceh is becoming clearer as the process of aid delivery and reconstruction slowly

  • Power and genocide in Rwanda

    Stories from Rwanda is an historical account of how, in the space of around two months in 1994, nearly 1 million Rwandan people were killed by their compatriots.

  • War, media lies and the US 'oilygarchy'

    The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing America's War Profiteers, the Media That Love Them and the Crackdown on our RightsBy Amy Goodman, with David GoodmanAllen & Unwin346 pages (pb), $24.95 REVIEW BY MAUREEN FRANCES This book examines how our

  • On the box

    Message Stick: Leila Murray — The story of one woman's campaign for answers and justice that helped spark the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. ABC, Friday, 28 January, 6pm. Thapelo: A Prayer for Africa — Exposes the tragic

  • What did your protests achieve?

    CHIP HENRISS-ANDERSSEN "What did your protests achieve?" asked the taxi driver, his frustration showing through his Tanzanian accent. "Nothing! No-one listened — they voted for Howard and Bush, it was all for nothing", he said. His response

  • 'we all need to work together for a better place'

    @head2 ='We all need to work together for a better place' Green Left Weekly's Alex Bainbridge spoke to Graeme Kelly, the founder of the band Civil Rights. Why did you call the band Civil Rights? Because myself, and some members in the band,

  • Two small boys, one big dream

    NinjaBy Tamara AsmarOld Fitzroy Hotel Theatre, SydneyUntil January 22 REVIEW BY BRENDAN DOYLE The Old Fitzroy in Sydney has been the home of much original, thought-provoking and affordable new Australian theatre. Ninja is yet another shoestring

  • History in a vacuum

    Stasiland: Stories behind the Berlin WallBy Anna FunderThe Text Publishing Company304 pages, $24 (pb) REVIEW BY AMANDA PEARSON Anna Funder's Stasiland is well written, lyrical and evocative. It is journalistic in style, and does not pretend to be

  • Memoirs of a Little Rodent

    When the policemen were olderthe postmen had whistlesand the Queen was a slip of a girlwhen the South Pole was colderand Ming had his Thistleand Mum wore a twinset and pearlswhen the menace was redand the peril was yellowand the potties all sucked up