It seems a no-brainer not to stand on the shoulders of giants, and in my humble opinion there is much we could still learn from indigenous cultures of the world.

Millions of dollars are spent every year regulating firearms ownership for no obvious measurable or verifiable benefits. Has it stopped massacres on Australian soil and are the increases/decreases in crime related? Also with the claims by the government that lone wolf terrorist attacks are becoming increasingly more likely do we need to rethink self defence? To quote David Leyonhjelm are we “a nation of victims”

To quote the late great Christopher Hitchens in introducing his autobiography, Hitch-22, “The most intense wars are civil wars, just as the most vivid and rending personal conflicts are internal ones, and what I hope to do now is give some idea of what it is like to fight on two fronts at once, to try and keep opposing ideas alive in the same mind, even occasionally to show two faces at the same time.” From the personal to the political, and the intersection of the two, why do we find it so difficult to keep opposing ideas alive in the same mind?

Is it pace of movement? Does it depend on the way others around you move? Should sprinters be required to wear a helmet if speed and congestion are criteria?

Because we’re curious

I have always found it to be a most poignant song/question and I wanted to ask it again in a milieu where it would be wrestled with a tad. With the 24 hour news cycle constantly informing us yet increasingly we have no clue as to what is really going on in the world.
is viewing events the best way for us to understand the world? Or should we be looking deeper?

Because the EU is in turmoil, countries are being held to ransom by market volatility and austerity is fueling social unrest.

Oh, come now: 99 problems, & getting hitched still 1…!?!

So. Many. Festivals.

Our society professes to be concerned about animal welfare but sanctions very different treatment of animals according to their perceived utility and the vested interests that benefit from their use. The law as it stands reflects this contradiction. As a result millions of animals suffer routinely, whether it be for live export, domestic agricultural use, feral animal control, research or entertainment purposes. Not even companion animals are immune from suffering; treated as disposable property and with little or no restriction on their breeding and sale, hundreds of thousands are euthanased every year in Australia. All of this is both inhumane and dishonest. Either we believe in the humane treatment of animals or we don’t. If the latter, let’s be honest about it; if the former, we need significant legal change. A good start would be the creation of independent statutory bodies to administer and enforce animal welfare laws instead of the current primary industries departments with their conflicts of interest.