privatising the justice system

An example of why prisons (and police, and prosecutors) are best kept in public hands: making findings of guilt and consequential imprisonment profitable creates an incentive to put people in prison who don’t deserve to be there, which leads to…

religious fundamentalists reach new low with bushfire comments

I really wanted to believe that this was fake when it was first emailed to me – but no, there it is on the Catch the Fire Ministries website: Pastor Danny Nalliah, leader of that esteemed fundamentalist Christian…

more lese majeste – associate professor giles ji ungpakorn

Further to the post about Harry Nicolaides, I thought I would add a link to the case of Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn, a Thai academic who is seemingly about to be charged under the same antiquated and…

fnord

Anyone who gets this without googling wins significant respect. Or at least less disrespect.

the strange case of harry nicolaides

This is disgraceful: a Melbourne man, Harry Nicolaides, has been jailed in Thailand for three years for insulting the Thai royal family in a novel he has apparently written.  The conviction is a result of Thailand’s anachronistic…

DRM-free itunes music files are spying on you for the music industry

You may have read about how Apple, in its benevolence, is finally releasing its entire music catalogue in a digital rights management-free format – i.e., you can copy them freely as you see fit. Sounds great…

no surprises

Australia continues its proud tradition of protecting the practice and expression of (Christian) religious beliefs, but failing to do the same in respect of atheism: article.  Sigh. There are buses rolling around Adelaide with Christian messages on them…

getup save the net campaign

iinet case update

This is quite a good summary of some of the legal issues in the iinet case.

internet censorship – national protests

Further to the previous post, there are national protests on 13 December 2008 in relation to Labor’s mandatory Internet filtering scheme. Details here. Attend, if you don’t want the federal government to decide what you can and cannot…

internet filter – positive noises from… the Liberal Party?

No doubt stung by the fact that no-one in the electorate actually pays them any attention at all (or maybe just because they don’t have to pal up to right wingnuts like Steve Fielding any more), the Liberal Party appear…

crazy cult update

A couple of ex-Exclusive Brethren members are asking Justice North in the Federal Court in Victoria (VID904/2008) to order that the AFP investigate the cult: link.

Former Brethren members Lydia Desai and Priscilla D’Souza have accused Exclusive Brethren

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iiNet film piracy case

You might remember this from a few days ago – a federal minister reading directly from the film and music industry script about the evils of piracy.

Now, in what seems not to be a coincidence (perhaps a…

the thrill of legal proceedings

This is not a great look: link, judgment.  The High Court in Cesan v The Queen; Mas Rivadavia v The Queen [2008] HCA 52 has overturned two criminal convictions on the basis that the trial judge…

no clean feed

This is probably the most significant issue for Australian democracy since the amendments to the ASIO Act by the Howard government: link.

More on it later.  If you already know about it, get a move on and write…