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Razzle Dazzle’em.
Susan Merrell | June 24, 2009What's really going on whilst we're all entralled by the high drama of Utegate?
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We Need an Australian Bill of Human Rights
Bill Miller | June 22, 2009I am in no doubt that we need to enact an Australian Bill of Human Rights. The behaviour of State and Federal Governments over the past decade attest to that.
Thomas Jefferson’s famous aphorism ‘The price of freedom is eternal vigilance‘ applies to the struggle for the protection of human rights.
The struggle for a single law protecting human rights is, of necessity, eternal. There will always be people who will argue that it is unnecessary or unworkable or too costly and or deny that the unimaginable happens.
We delude ourselves when we argue that human rights abuses haven’t, couldn’t, wont, happen in Australia, committed here and elsewhere by Australians. It has happened and it will again. It is part of the human condition it seems. So we must protect ourselves from ourselves.
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Rights of Indigenous Australians
lucyv | June 18, 2009The suspension of the racial discrimination act and mandatory detention in the NT have important implications for the National Human Rights Consultation.
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UncategorisedNational Human Rights Online Consultation closes
editor | June 18, 2009
Between 19 May – 26 June 2009, the National Human Rights Online Consultation received over 10 000 visits and gathered nearly 500 contributions. We would like to extend an enormous thank you to everybody who participated. Your comments are an invaluable part of our move towards a more deliberative democracy. The National Human Rights Consultation Committee will report to the Australian Government by 31 August 2009. Open Forum will keep you up to date as the outcomes of the consultation unfold.
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People of the environment
quagga | June 17, 2009Just because something is man-made doesn’t mean that it is not natural.
This is a rebuttal of certain popular misconceptions which featured in the blog "People VS the Environment" by Hani Montan which appeared here on Open Forum recently.
That piece states a common misconception, specifically the "Maintenance of the balance in nature". The environment has no such a thing. There is NO balance of nature. If there was a balance of nature then things would never change, but unbalanced change is precisely what nature does. Infact we have even named this concept- it’s called…."EVOLUTION".
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Freedom of Association & Human Rights
sandie perry | June 17, 2009The so called "Bikie Legislation" leaves the door open to very dangerous and serious misuse and abuse of police power, particularly when people can be charged with a criminal offence "on the balance of probabilities".
I would like to share my concern regarding the so called "Bikie Legislation".
I wonder how many others realise that the new Laws can apply to many people outside of a "Bikie" profile? Via the police and media we are led to believe that the laws only affect bikie gangs, however if you look closer you will find that the laws extend to any particular organisation at the behest of the Police Commissioner of the States that passed these Legislations (SA, NSW, QLD).
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People VS the Environment
Hani Montan | June 15, 2009Without population control environmentalism is doomed
In the early stages of human history, the population and its interaction with the environment was at a sustainable level. Mental and physical capacities however, have allowed humans to live outside and in divergence from the law of ‘Maintenance of the balance in nature’, which normally applies to other species (Divergence from the law of balance in nature occurs in no other species besides the human). Around the world, the fast growth of population combined with the industrial revolution and urbanisation programs has tipped the balance against the environment.
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Politicians Pay: A fair salary determining mechanism
quagga | June 15, 2009Politicians are some of the only employees who can set their own terms and conditions of employment at will without having to bargain with their employers.
Recently, due to the recent federal politician pay-freeze ruling last month, the issue of politicians pay has arisen once again. This has lead to various internet comments and proposals on the subject. What I outline in this article is an alternative mechanism for fairly determining the salary of a politician. This simple mechanism is based on the price determining principles found throughout society. This idea it is not new…I first heard from a work colleague over ten years ago and I guess it has been proposed elsewhere before then as well.
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e-Security Small Business Checkpoints
Bhuvan Unhelkar | June 11, 2009Smart e-Security isn’t about locking your clients out.
Once upon a time there was a king who wanted to be totally secure. He built a castle which was indeed very secure – so secure there were no doors to the castle!
Electronic security, particularly in small and medium enterprise sector is a similar challenge; it is really a balancing act between how secure you want to be and how easily you want to interact with the external world.In business, e-Security needs to be considered at the five important checkpoints; networks, databases, applications, processes and interfaces.
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“Technical recession” Political Con Trick?
John Hannoush | June 10, 2009"Technical recession" paleo-spin from 1967.
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What would happen if you lost your mobile phone today?
Matthew Sorell | June 10, 2009Don’t let convenience seduce you away from e-Security.
You probably think the least secure aspect of using a mobile phone is that it transmits your private information over a radio link, but the fact is that the level of authentication and encryption in use today is sufficient for all but the most sensitive applications. The real problem is, what happens if your phone goes missing?
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Strong Authentication has Multiple Lines of Defence
Fran Rosch | June 9, 2009More and more, customers are demanding better e-Security.
A consumer survey conducted by Synovate revealed that nearly nine out of 10 consumers prefer to visit websites that take steps to actively engage them in protecting their online identity. It is certainly encouraging to see a growing preference among Internet users to seek out sites that take steps to protect them from identity thieves.
