Lest we forget we will all chant, as we have all chanted for a century now. And yet it is as if all that chanting only ensures we remember nothing. If we remembered would we 100 years later still allow our young men to be sent off to kill or be killed in distant conflicts defending yet again not our country, but another distant empire, as we have in Iraq and Afghanistan?
The criminalisation of homosexuality under the Indian Penal Code is fundamentally a remnant of Victorian moral values that filtered into Indian society as a by-product of British Colonial rule, in the form of s 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
The expert panel inquiring into religious freedom should be very clear exactly what ‘freedom of religion’ means in Australia, CLA says in its inquiry submission. The notion includes the rights of atheists, no mandating of ‘religiosity’ in schools, and no promoting of religion by the state. We should also have protections as constant benchmark comparators, such as those contained in the Bill of Rights Australians should have to protect ongoing individual freedom of choice.
Police have a national photo ID database – and then there’s ASIO – but who else has you under surveillance? Apparently, poker machine sites keep tight track on patrons and their habits.
The top legal advisory body says Tasmania should have a Charter of Rights. Victoria and the ACT do, so too NZ, Canada, UK and USA. You too can sign your support. 10 Dec 2016
‘An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind’, said Gandhi. Taking a life in revenge or bloodlust demeans any state or society, Kay Danes argues. 2 Aug 2016
Protest laws around Australia are being beefed up against the citizen as police seek ascendancy over the people in a dangerous shifting of the democratic power balance in society. 19 April 2016
The smoking debate is vexed, and fanciful claims about second-hand smoke effect, particularly outdoors, do nothing to contribute to the tolerance needed for pro- and anti-groups to happily coexist. 12 April 2016