Sociologic this week... 31 March 2010

Hey everyone

This week on socio-logic things got very exciting! To begin with, I got my own ‘introduction’ – a pre-recorded message introducing the show! It is called a ‘sting’ in radio talk and I was so excited that I almost bounced out of the studio!

On the show this week we covered the following...


1. Internet filters

The federal government is keen to introduce an internet filter to attempt to stop us from accessing internet sites we should not access. Whenever I hear the words ‘child pornography’ uttered by politicians, I always think of moral hazards. Yes, this is a problem but the tool that is being proposed is expensive and almost useless.

We do not know which ‘other’ sites are going to be blocked but we are being told they will be terrorist sites or ones that insight violence. This ‘blacklist’ of sites is secret and this raises questions of integrity and censorship. We also need to understand how sites make it on this list: for example, would a charity that raises money to work in places such as Palestine and have to deal with one of the militias there be placed on such a list?

Working in such conflict zones is complex and have to be negotiated – grey areas that can well be treated as black/white with such a process.

A better policy would be to provide free, controllable internet filters for Australian households and put the money into sorting out real problems.


2. China v. Google

This is another internet story with Google stating that they will no longer work with the Chinese government to filter out sites.

The Chinese government and Google cut a deal that would allow Google access to the Chinese market if it filtered out sites associated with the Falun Gong , Tibet and so on.

Google has rightly pulled out of the deal – and we should acknowledge this. It has been pointed out, however, by the super cool Jason Wilson that this is not as selfless as it appears: Google has reversed a decision in which it was criticised for about a market that it is finding it hard to break into.

Whatever you feel about the decision, the important part is that we are having conversations about censorship.


3. Forestry and koalas

I received an SOS call about a proposal to undertake forestry in the South East Region Area of NSW. The Conservation group in the area have noted that: "State Forests, the NSW Government logging agency, is demanding to woodchip the koalas’ forest home.”

This is one of the final areas of koala habitat in this part of the state and we are talking woodchips! That is, cutting down trees for low value products: not even high value timber products. This is the “last tiny colony of koalas on the south coast live in Mumbulla and Murrah State Forest. There are only 30 to 50 of them left in the whole south east region” (according to the press release).

So... we can only assume that this is a political decision rather than an economic one. My advice, email the Premier, Kristina Keneally and politely ask her to stop this. The email address is to get on is: premier@nsw.gov.au


That is it from me...

Speak soon

james

Dont hate, marinate: help end homophobic violence!

Hey everyone

A friend of mine works on an anti-violence project with the aim of stopping homophobic violence.

You can help by taking part in designing the campaign...

Please votehttp://www.facebook.com/l/bc100;www.thisisoz.com.au - don't hate, marinate!

Cheers, james

This week on FBI... 10 March 2010

Hey everyone

I have been absent for a couple of weeks due to semester starting last week. There has been much happening and rather than working though everything I wanted to mention a just a few things:

• Being out west: Homophobic violence

To begin with I was lucky enough to be invited to chair a symposium looking at homophobic violence in Western Sydney. It was an amazing evening with stories of both violence and also hope – as some who had confronted violence spoke out against it. About 100 people showed up and each of the presentations where amazing...

What was obvious is that homophobic violence remains a problem in Australia – not just ‘out west’. The statistics are harrowing and I encourage everyone to speak out against it.

I wrote an article on the event for New Matilda available here...

• Parental leave

A big ‘battle ground’ looming with the federal election to be held sometime later this year is ‘paid parental leave’. This was highlighted this week when the leader of the Opposition stated a new position on parental leave which brought a chorus of criticisms from many sides of politics.

Abbot’s position seems not to have been greatly conceived and it concerns me that this will undermine a scheme that was due to be put in place by the Rudd Government which is to start 1 January 2011.

I hope this is not the case.

What we should remember though, is how far the debate has come (reflecting the fact that societies are constantly changing).

If you want to get a great overview of some of the debates on this issue, check out this piece by Eva Cox – a former colleague of mine who is also a good friend.

• Night time research project

A group of friends and colleagues at the University of Western Sydney are undertaking a research project into ‘The City After Dark’.

The group wants to know what you get up to after hours and your ideas and opinions could well shape the future design of our city.

To undertake the survey click here or for more questions call the research team at (02) 9685 9493

Ok... that is all from me...

Do not forget to email me at askjames@fbiradio.com if you have any questions...

Cheers, james