Babalon-93 has suggested that I expand my previous post, “Words Mean Stuff: thorny language”, into a Fifty Two Something series: 52 Something Choose something you would really like to do on a weekly basis and commit to sharing it with… Read More ›
ethics & philosophy
ideals, breaches, disappointments and inspirations
Universal Smartarses Cooperative
Just a bit of fun, yer ‘onor. Every now and then I feel the urge to “play the Troll card” or “play the Bored card” on certain discussion threads i.e. point out that another commentor has grown tedious in one… Read More ›
Adding it to the wishlist
Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction – Utopias and Dystopias Judith A. Little (Ed) Amherst, New York, Prometheus Books, 2007 411 pages, ISBN 9781591024149 This accessible and provocative collection of science fiction acquaints readers with cutting-edge gender controversies in moral and… Read More ›
Culprits
I’m seeing more and more variations of this argument lately, especially on American sites: World immigration is a direct response to abortion throughout Europe and North America. Workers from poorer countries are always going to come to replace our lack… Read More ›
Who made the seeds?
[image source] We were examining seedless grapes after dinner, biting them in half to see what they look like inside, holding them up to light to examine the veining, peeling the skin off with our teeth. We noticed that they… Read More ›
Censoring the Internet: Conroy plays King Canute
[This is a guest post by strangedave, yoinked with permission from a comment here. David is a board member of Electronic Frontiers Australia, and many other things besides. Here, he addresses the current plan for mandatory, national, opt-out ISP-based internet… Read More ›
Special snowflake watch
A physicist commenting on a post about how a newspaper report of a social sciences paper (speculating on why the rate of rape by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian women is reportedly low) has whipped up somewhat of a rightwing frenzy… Read More ›
Posts that say it better than I could
I’ve wanted to comment on both these stories, but time and tide have washed up excellent posts that I can’t improve upon. Bernice Balconey on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Lauren on Jamie-Lyn Spears’ pregnancy at age 16. I realise that the… Read More ›
Melbourne Anglican Diocese supports the decriminalisation of abortion
Props to the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne! The Bendigo Advertiser reports that they have put in their submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission‘s examination of the possible decriminalisation of abortion. And the Church is in favour. An all-woman taskforce… Read More ›
Qld Premier Anna Bligh on the Aurukun rape case: video
Disgraced Queensland Crown Prosecutor Steve Carter. [source: ABC News] For those who don’t get Aussie TV, the 7:30 Report last night covered the aftermath of the case of the gang rape dubbed “naughty” and “childish experimentation”[1] by the Queensland Crown… Read More ›