As you are no doubt aware, David Hicks is now back in Australia and locked away in a maximum security prison in Adelaide. The South Australian government in its wisdom has now announced legislation to stop Hicks from selling his story to the media.
One question which immediately arises is: does such legislation amount to […]
Archive for May, 2007
more gore lore
30May07Further to this post, Simon points to this fairly lengthy but fascinating excerpt from big Al’s new book.
Faith in the power of reason—the belief that free citizens can govern themselves wisely and fairly by resorting to logical debate on the basis of the best evidence available, instead of raw power—remains the central premise of American […]
It seems China has a slightly more extreme approach to countering government corruption than Australia. I wonder what they’d do to someone who allowed millions of dollars in bribes to be sent to a country they were at war with?
Of course the death penalty is not to be taken lightly and is a centrepiece of […]
The Electoral Commission has finally referred the matter of the Exclusive Brethren cult’s involvement in the funding of pro-Government election ads at the last election to the Australian Federal Police. A company linked to the cult spent more on pro-Government, anti-Greens advertising than the Australian Conservation Foundation or the Wilderness Society spent on their ads. […]
gall
29May07This is an extraordinary story which gives some real insight into the Bush White House - while the Attorney General lies in hospital gravely ill and hallucinating, Bush’s political heavies show up to try to force him to sign off on a piece of legislation that would grant extraordinary powers to intelligence agencies to spy […]
You have probably heard about this by now: evangelical Christians will today open a “Creation Museum” (or, ‘moron magnet’, as this blog eloquently puts it) in the USA. Rather than being designed along the lines of a giant roach motel, as one might naturally assume, the ‘museum’ is actually dedicated to teaching people about […]
hypnotic photography website
28May07Flickrvision is a strangely addictive website. It consists of photographs from the photo-sharing website flickr superimposed over a map of the world as they are uploaded. In other words, as you watch, you see an endless series of photos, with the place in the world each one is from highlighted. The effect is a very […]
…he must be running for office, got no time to lose
I really enjoyed this post over at Blueberry Fool about the symbolism of concerns about terrorism leading to the public (and indeed, the Treasurer whilst jogging) no longer being allowed to go right to the top of the open areas above Parliament House in Canberra.
The […]
young americans
25May07This research is interesting - in a survey of American Muslims, the young are both more devout and more radical than those over 30. For instance, 60% of those in the 18-29 age group thought of themselves as “Muslim first” rather than “American first”, whereas only 41% of those in the 30+ age group said […]
You may or may not recall that over the last few years, the federal government has carefully stacked the ABC’s board with right wing nutcases, including Keith “we never did nuffink to the Aborigines, it was like that when we got here” Windschuttle and Janet “Islam promotes rape” Albrechtsen. The ABC later dropped a […]
Amnesty International has published its annual report, and it’s not pretty reading for Australia. New Holland comes in for criticism in relation to a range of areas, but in particular our approach to terrorism, women’s rights, and the abuse of the issue of refugees as part of the politics of fear.
Particularly heartwarming is this passage, […]
ain’t talkin’
24May07Today is International Talk Like Bob Dylan Day. Rejoice, and listen to dubious impersonations here.
Or reflect that, nasal tones or not, no-one can really talk like Dylan:
If I wasn’t Bob Dylan, I’d probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
(via BoingBoing).
al gore: rationalist politician?
23May07Whether you’re left or right in a conventional sense, it’s worth paying attention to what Al Gore has been saying lately about the state of American - and by extension, Australian - politics. His new book, The Assault On Reason, is no doubt partisan in many ways, but it also focuses on some extremely […]
This is an odd little piece of civil disobedience - the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen was draped in ‘Muslim dress’ and a headscarf.
Apparently a previous incident in which a Burqa was put on the statue was linked to disquiet about Turkey joining the European Union, and presumably by extension the fear of the influence […]
purity control
21May07You’ve no doubt seen the proposed question for the Australian cultural and ideological purity control test over the weekend: link here in case you haven’t.
Some of the questions are, as John Quiggan puts it, nothing but “Carmen Sandiego” questions like “Australia’s national flower is…”. It’s very hard to see what they have to do […]
