The Subtle Erosion of Mount St. Helens

So, if you follow politics like I do, you probably know all about this whole Crosby Textor thing. (Original on stuff)
While I’m sure I could go on at length about the damage this sort of campaigning does to the political dialogue, (which is oh-so-precious) what I really want to talk about here is the subtle [...]

“I’m a male feminist and…”

So many times I’ve seen the line trumpeted so proudly in discussions related to feminism: “I’m a male feminist and…”
And so many times I’ve rolled my eyes and said/thought: “Here we go again.” Apparently my fellow dudes, some of us need some explaining of what a feminist is, and why men can never be perfect [...]

Geeky open thread.

Laddies and gentlewomen, show me your… browser… extensions.
Yeah, that sounded dirty. Ewww. I’m going to go wash my hands while I wait for replies.

Sidetrack: EFA paralells in America

I know, I know right? Two sidetracks in a week. I’m getting bad at this. But this one is really important. It highlights why laws like the EFA are necessary.
Despite believing passionately in free speech rights, I’m a staunch supporter of the electoral finance act, which includes limits on the amount spent on advertising by [...]

Bioethics strikes back

Okay, that’s a bit dramatic. But Granny Herald does have an interesting story on the bioethics of sex selection. (h/t to The Standard, who promptly mocked them for an amusing grammatical mistake which implied parents should choose whether to have sex with babies)
At the moment, it is illegal to select your baby’s sex during in [...]

Let’s talk words (in which I am apolitically correct)

Words are powerful things. While the origin of the quote is disputed, back in the annals of history, several people opined something along the lines of “among great leaders, the pen is mightier than the sword”, referring to how the best leaders recognise the power of ideas before they recognise military power. Words fuel discrimination [...]

Sidetrack: Get Firefox 3 this Wednesday

I don’t often sidetrack this blog, but I thought I’d give some brief exposure to the gem of open source. This wednesday, (Tuesday US time) Firefox is trying to set the inaugral Guiness World Record for most software downloaded on a single day with the release of the third version of its web browser.
Firefox is [...]

A classic link

I’m probably not going to finish a post today, (Spent too much time on three different ones and got caught commenting elsewhere) but to tide you over to the weekend, take a read of this classic link to stories of pro-life or anti-abortion women… getting abortions, and the heartwarming (well, at least to me) tales [...]

Law Commission reports back

A quick note: The law comission has reported back on its review of whether previous convictions should be disclosed to the jury in some cases.
For those of you not up to speed, this inquiry started in response to the fact that Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum’s previous rape convictions were withheld during his trial.
They’ve decided [...]

Addressing Family First

Whoops! Apparently I saved this when I meant to publish it, and was thinking all night I had left you with something to read. Apologies if anyone missed it.
Firstly, a little background. Family First is a well-funded lobby group that is not declaring itself political for EFA purposes this election, and is focusing [...]