New South Wales Books

Trainer's views for the new way in which society need to be shaped is the main idea that is relevent in this book. The only thing wrong with this book is that while his ideas are valid they are not really realistic in the current way of life. Good book just needs some optimsm when being read.

This brief book is Ted Trainer's manifesto on the state of the environment, a critique of the existing social and economic order, and an overview of what a more sustainable society might look like.

Trainer argues that environmental problems cannot be solved simply by recycling more, stopping old-growth logging or buying products with green dolphins on the label. Rather, a far more fundamental social and economic shift is needed.

Although the book is very short, it deals with subject-matter that could easily fill an encyclopedia. The point of this book is obviously to provide an introduction for those new to these arguments, and to provide a starting point for further reading. It achieves this reasonably well- it is certainly thought-provoking, and a list of recommended books is provided at the end.

I'm not sure that it is worth buying though, given that it is so brief. I'd say that anyone with more than a passing interest in this subject would probably be better off starting with something a bit more substantial.

unlike a previous reviewer, I believe this book is a useful resource. Not EVERYONE lives in the US. Does every guide in the US preface it's title with "A US guide to....."? Of course not! A cursory look would have revealed to this "reviewer" that the book was published by NSW University press. Don't let the arrogance and ethnocentricity of the previous reviewer fool you, this book could save your house. There is a nice listing of tell tale signs of infestation, these are all most "professional exterminators" look for anyway! (save yourself the money......)

The title of this book should be "Termites and Borers: An AUSTRALIAN Homeowner's Guide to Detection and Control" -- this book is for Australians. Furthermore, the book reaffirmed my belief that exterminators maintain a shroud of secrecy around the truths of their profession in order to propagate the public fear of insect infestation. The book did contain a few worthwhile facts, but not as many as can be found by typing "termite" into your favorite Internet search engine.

Full Disclosure: Until I picked up "Conversations with the Constitution" in the
Library of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, I had no idea Australia even had a constitution, and only the vaguest notion that the great sunny land down under was a Federal state. Greg Craven's book is not really meant for the uninitiated such as me - it's filled with references to names, places and dates that mean very little, if anything, to the unknowledgeable outsider.

Craven is a conservative, and his book is a conservative polemic - it has a clear political target - Liberal Interpreters of the Constitution, and a clear base to defend - the Constitution itself, and the men who made it.

The primary reason Craven offers for liking the Australian Constitution is that is has served well - ever since its inception in the late 1890s, it has given Australia a steady, stable, more-or-less efficient government. Craven contrasts this with the Constitutions of other countries, such as France (that went through two monarchies, two empires, five republics, and a spell as a puppet-state of Nazi Germany), Nigeria (four constitutions, 6 coups d'etat and one civil war), and even the American Constitution, which did not prevent the US Civil War (p.216).

Not to over stress the point, but it seems that the comparison is less then apt - I know very little about Australian history, but it seems to me that Australia never had to face the kind of crisis other countries faced - in a continent all for themselves (after having gotten rid of a majority of the aboriginal population), with no real threat of foreign invasion, a relatively unified ethnic population, and no challenge comparable to American Black Slavery, Australia's good government appears not as the consequence of brilliant constitutionalism but as the relatively inevitable quietness of a country with few major problems.

The second main line of defence for the Constitution is that, by the standards of its day, it has been 'democratically' authorized (that is, the voting populace has directly voted to adopt it), and that only few amendments to it have been secured through the libertine amendment process - after all, if the people were unsatisfied with it, they could fix it, couldn't they? (pp. 20-26).

There are several problems with this argument. First, Craven sort of mentions, but doesn't really discuss, the argument that there is more to democracy than election. Many people, the author of this piece included, feel that elections are a necessary but not primary part of a democratic state. After all, see Iraq and the Palestinian territories, or Weimar Republic for that matter - what these "democracies" lack are not elections, which are easy (except in Florida), but principles, traditions, and above all, human rights.

Craven does not think that it the job of Courts to protect civil liberties and human rights, and while he acknowledges that Australia's constitution is deficient in protection of rights, he does not think that Australia needs a bill of rights. Why? Well, essentially it boils down to the fact that Australian human rights violations aren't so bad (i.e. Austalia doesn't have Gulags), and of course, that Australians don't want a Bill of Right, or they would have enacted one for themselves!

But as Craven acknowledges, the people who require constitutional protections are minorities. The very reason that average person, in Australia and elsewhere, doesn't feel the need for a Bill of Rights is a major argument for it - because it is there to secure not so much the influential, normative majorities, but the others, those lacking political clout, to whom the system shows its worse, rather then its best, face - in Australia's case, the aboriginal population and immigrants.

Although Craven discusses many structural reasons why the Australian constitution is amended so rarely (pp. 224-233), he doesn't adress the argument from rational choice theory - that it is not in the majority's interest to contemplate an amendment, no matter how vital for a country's true, rather then merely formal, democracy.

Craven writes a witty, occasionally hilarious book, that is strangely not an easy read. The problem has less to do with the prose, then with the argument, which slouches pedantically, and repeats itself endlessly. Nonetheless, I guardedly recommend it for those interested in constitutional law, or in Australia

This is the best available overview of the issues surrounding digital broadcasting in an Australian context. Digital broadcasting is the future, for well or ill. It will greatly increase the number of available channels for broadcasting, both in television and radio. It will also allow data-casting and other functions which are probably as yet unimagined. But as with every new technology there are problems. The big one is cost. Digital broadcasting requires expensive new equipment for both transmission and reception. The broadcasters will want to force people to buy new digital TV sets as soon as possible, and the easiest way to do that is stop conventional broadcasts. But that would be unfair on the poor, and a monstrous waste besides. So who will decide when conventional broadcasting ends? And how will public and community broadcasters fare with the new technology? These are some of the questions policy makers are struggling to grapple with. Given's book provides an excellent introduction to the policy issues, and gives enough technical information to allow the reader to come to a more informed view. The writing is a little dry in places, but the information is invaluable for anyone interested in the future of broadcasting in Australia. It would also be of interest to people in other small countries keen to know how digital broadcasting issues are being handled in Australia.

Dinosaurs of Australia and New Zealand : and Other Animals of the Mesozoic Era by John A. Long takes a look at recent work in the field, as well as an overview by one of Australia's eminent paleontological teams.

It is good to get a book about what is going on locally as opposed to finds all over the Northern Hemisphere.

The guide was apparently aimed more at the less affluent tourist market than at what I required. I am sure it would be five stars from back packers - but it did not really fully cover my needs as a more older tourist.

This work aims to be a guide to the ornamental shrubs commonly grown in Australia. It seems to perform this task quite adequately and should also be usable in any area with a climate comparable to Australia. It does contain a few typically Australian shrubs which may be hard to obtain or grow outside of Australia, but these are few. Most of the shrubs treated are common to gardens worldwide.

The color pictures which were added for the reprint (on separate pages) are decent, but small and quite orthodox.

This book is filled with color pictures, but as soon as you examine them closely you realize that they are pictures from different angles of the same three gardens -- most of them incomplete (as stated in their own captions) or violating the author's own rules of not planting your potager with poor-preforming, slow-growing plants. The introduction goes into detail about the first potager, and how she went to visit it in France, but there are no pictures of it! Also disappointing, is that all the potagers displayed are filled with annual vegetables. I didn't see any suggestions on what to plant, or what to do with empty potager beds once the growing season is over. This is a good book to browse in a book store or library but not for the hard-core landscaper or vegetable grower.

Its nice and tiny enough to put in your purse and it does have some nice maps at the end of the book. That said, the book is hard to follow with detailed descriptions (unless you have another travel guide to see as well)
It does have some nice recommendations for travellers especially those on a low budget and it is worth supplementing a book like "Eyewitness Travel Guides: Australia"

This terrible book reveals that the author, Brian Morris is the one in need of medical treatment, psychiatric that is. A reader with even a rudimentary knowledge of anatomy and medicine will see immediately the self serving and almost rabid zeal this man has for cutting children.

No valid reason exits to justify cutting an infant's genitals but Morris seems to feel that if he lists every possible excuse they will all add up to something. They do add up to a very good case that the advocates for such wounding of children qualify as sexually disturbed. Morris' "logic" extends to the ludicrous and racist as when he advocates cutting children's genitals for "societal class distinction" because, "The US National Health and Lifestyle Survey saw higher circumcision rates among whites and the better educated."

Thanks to various organizations dedicated to protecting children from unnecessary surgery the public is far more educated now about the real issues behind "circumcision." We have yet to fully understand the fetishizing of this form of child abuse, though the one value this book has is as evidence that such mental illness exits.

This book provides *unbiased*, accurate and true information about circumcision. Very useful for parents, or for those expecting a son.
Ignore those radical that criticize this book so harshly.
I bet most of them have not even read the book!

Yet another collection of pathetic drivel. Notice how all but one review is one star...that should tell ya something- Obviously "Anonymous" from Boulder, CO is in the same unfortunate, diminished, altered state(circumcised!) as the author. That is why this vicious cycle of ritual abuse continues through the generations. It's called EGO, get over yourselves and your ugly, mutilated penises. Have the balls to leave your newborn son the way God made him- divine perfection! :)

This book is unmitigated rubbish. Poorly written by a moron. He says on his website
"I married at 42 and have had a lot of sexual experience"
Who with? Yourself?
DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!

Morris provides his take on the very contentious and controversial issue of circumcision. Much like the abortion debate, circumcision is a highly charged debate with two bitterly divided camps that are for and against. Both issues have been clouded by campaigns of misinformation by minority groups largely influenced by their religious or political agendas. Morris is an academic and he clearly has an opinion (pro-circumcision) but he has formed his beliefs based on research and science. He doesn't appear to have a social agenda here, which is a refreshing change from all of the very angry and loud anti-circ activists. Circumcision is a very personal decision that parents (and sometimes grown men) have to make for themselves. Educate yourself about the pros and cons and make the best decision for you...don't buy into any extremist propaganda. This book is but one of many resources you should consult if you are considering circumcision for your child or yourself.