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 this – two judges who have been giving offenders unwarranted sentences of detention in exchange [...]

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 group, tells us that the horrendous bushfires in Victoria in the past week which have so far [...]

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 anti-democratic laws.
His crime?  Trying to better the lot of Thais by conducting open dialogue (by way of [...]

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

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 “lese majeste” laws, which make insulting the royals an offence punishable by 3-15 years prison.  As this website [...]

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 (especially from the perspective of Apple’s marketing humanoids): a stylish cutting edge tech company finally breaking the music [...]

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 as we speak.
And it’s the best form of discrimination too – the kind by private citizens and [...]

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

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 see on the net.

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 to have had some sort of cathartic experience about the role government should play in [...]

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 members in three countries of crimes including genocide, people smuggling and slavery.
Justice North is on the progressive end [...]

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 coordinated campaign was agreed to in some Bond villain-esque meeting room), the film studios have decided to have [...]

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 was asleep (and snoring) during large parts of the trial.
Having been a judge’s associate I can certainly sympathise with [...]

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 to your state’s senators.