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The criminal liability (?) of John Howard for the subversion of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act
Jim Staples | February 15, 2010Senator Scott Ludlam has introduced the "Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service Bill 2008 [No.2]", which is now under enquiry by the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee. Published below is a letter I sent to the research officer Miss Felicity Hill on February 8 2010. My letter was not sent to the Committee directly because submissions are now closed.
Holding on to Hope for Young People
Clive Leach | February 12, 2010The 2nd Australian Positive Psychology and Well-being Conference provides a unique platform to raise awareness of the potential for evidence-based coaching to add value to strategies targeting young people at risk.
Just under six months ago I wrote my first blog for Open Forum titled ‘Where there’s hope there’s flourishing young people’. In the article I focused on how evidence-based coaching, as an applied positive psychology, might build well-being, resilience and hope in at risk or ‘disengaged’ young people. I also raised the potential for coaching to assist those who support at risk young people; such as volunteers, youth workers and managers within the public and Not for Profit sectors.
Why do we all think it’s ok for poor kids to learn less?
lizkeen | February 11, 2010My family lives in a disadvantaged community. According to the Australian Bureau of Statisitcs, we are the 7th most disadvantaged community in New South Wales.
I work at our local youth centre and volunteer at my childrens’ primary school and I am shocked to see the signs of poverty around me: the amount of people missing teeth, struggling with drug addictions, malnourished or obese.
So when the governments new My School website came out, I expected our school to rate poorly. In fact I was more frustrated to see that we were rated against schools in less disadvantaged areas than I was by our rating in the straight comparisons.
I focused on my son’s results. He was in Year 3 last year and he did fine.
One little word that made all the difference for Iran
ejames | February 10, 2010Tehran, February 11, 1979: the Shah of Iran is knocked from power, ending fifty four years of rule. A day that marks the beginnings of the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as supporters of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini take control of the Iranian capital.
Fast forward 31 years to today, February 11, 2010, and Iran is set for major confrontations between the government and opposition protestors. Protestors angry about, amongst many things, the result of the presidential election held in June last year.
Officially Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the June 12 elections. However, leaked papers indicate opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi won over Mehdi Karoubi, with Ahmadinejad running third. The government also admitted that in some provinces voter turn-out was higher than 100%. These provinces were all won by Ahmadinejad.
Benefit of cap and trade ETS is it speaks the language of GDP
JEQP | February 9, 2010Many people deride environmental and sustainability concerns as apocalyptic, arguing that life in the developed world has consistently improved over the past few hundreds of years and will continue to do so.
The basis for this claim is a profound faith in progress driven by advancements in science and improvements in technology. At this point I don’t want to get into the merits of the claim that our lives have improved because we now have three TV sets rather than two, but to argue that science and technology aren’t enough to save the environment because of the way progress is measured; ie, via growth in gross domestic product (GDP).
The event that now goes by the acronym GFC (global financial crisis) is often said to be paradigm-changing, to have changed the system. It hasn’t.
Clinical Trials can be for People and Country
wliauw | February 9, 2010Clinical trials involving volunteer patients form an integral part of the development of new healthcare interventions.
Clinical trials also form an important industry in Australia; injecting an estimated $450 million dollars to the Australian knowledge economy.
But like the healthcare system itself the clinical trials industry is ailing. Many barriers to the more efficient approval and conduct of clinical trials are reducing the incentives for both local and foreign companies to conduct clinical trials in Australia.
Correcting the Australian Government – natural gas is NOT “clean energy”
Dr Gideon Polya | February 7, 2010On a weight basis, liquid natural gas is twice as dirty as brown coal, high school chemistry tells us.
The Australian Labor Government has repeatedly declared that it is instituting an “education revolution”. However a key element of the teaching and learning process called “education” is correct information. I must note my credentials here: this is my 5th decade of teaching science students at a leading Australian university and, unlike most of my Australian academic colleagues, I have a postgraduate qualification in teaching in Higher Education, in addition to my first degree and PhD.
The Market Fever Index: Part 2
patrickcallioni | February 5, 2010Last month I published the first iteration of the Market Fever Index (MFI).In my forthcoming book, Waves of Change: Managing Global Trends in the Financial Services Industry, due out in May 2010, I suggest that it would be useful for investors, especially unsophisticated investors, to have access to a market fever index.My proposal is based on the same logic that underpins bushfire warnings: to let people know that while they are free to invest as they please, they ought to be aware of the risk that is inherent in the environment.It is almost impossible for retail i
Ahead of the Curve? Recent trans-Atlantic thinking on privacy that sounds familiar
Malcolm Crompton | February 1, 2010At the risk of mixing metaphors, it seems that there is movement at the station, on both sides of the Atlantic, on the need for new thinking on how best to respect personal information about individuals and manage the risks to which they might be exposed as a consequence of its collection, use and disclosure.
Throughout 2009 as the word was getting around you could hear the horsemen gathering in the distance, now they can be seen gathering on the horizon.
UncategorisedCongratulations to our bloggers on 2010 Australia Day honours
editor | February 1, 2010Steve Lawrence was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the community through leadership roles in the development and implementation of not-for-profit ventures to create social change, particularly for youth and the long-term unemployed. Warwick Watkins was made a member of the Order of Australia for service to spatial information and natural resource management through leadership roles within a range of public sector agencies. To find out more about their passions in their own words check out Steve’s blog and Warwick’s blog today.
Charter of Rights no protection for the vulnerable
Elise Parham | February 1, 2010The peculiarly moral nature of human rights can make it difficult to analyse the way a law enumerating those rights, a charter of rights, would operate in practice.
Supporters and opponents often talk in sweeping generalities about the value of minorities, the need to care for those who slip through the cracks, and increasing government accountability. Yet it is critical that the government take an evidence-based approach to the question, to the extent possible.
To wade through the rhetoric and research the practical operation of a charter is difficult, especially when the government has not yet indicated its intention to introduce a charter and has offered no particular charter model. There are, however, some good indications of what might happen if the government does propose a charter of the kind recommended late last year by the National Human Rights Consultation.
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