For those tempted to the thought that a euthanasia or assisted-suicide law, once passed, is cast in stone, never to be changed, recent events in Belgium should make you think again. Not only has the statute been subject to continual re-interpretation to the point where euthanasia for psychological reasons is now taking place, the parliament…
WITHOUT YOU THERE IS NO US: My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite by Suki Kim (Crown, New York, 2015) Hardback: 304 pagesPrice: AUD$33.99 Reviewed by Terry Noone Towards the end of this book Suki Kim comments on a trip to North Korea by a fellow journalist. She says that he will report on the “designated sliver that the regime had permitted him to see”. Kim is writing about her own “designated sliver”, although hers is one of which we in the West rarely get a glimpse. She spent two semesters teaching English at a…
The looming 2016 election will be a crucially important one for Australia’s future. Will the nation decide to oust yet another short-term government by electing Labor, or will it seek stability by giving the Coalition a chance at settling into governing for at least a full term. Policy differences will be much amplified during the campaign but will boil down to alternate policies on negative gearing, on how best to deal with alleged cavalier and arrogant behaviour by the banks, and how best to deal with alleged stand-over merchants and intimidators in the building unions. There will also be an…
What is perhaps the most incredible part of The Jungle Book is to be found at the end of the credits: filmed in Downtown Los Angeles. The entire film was crafted in photorealistic 3D CGI. The trees, the grassland, the rivers, the animals, the weather – all of it was fashioned by a vast team of creative professionals working out of a studio warehouse, under the keen eye of director Jon Favreau. The only thing on screen that is real is Mowgli (Neel Sethi), as well as some glimpses of other humans. But this adaptation of The Jungle Book is…
