Are Civil and Political Rights Universal?
On the 10th December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was enshrined in international law. This event was profoundly significant, given that at no point in history had human beings attempted to universalise human rights. However, significant controversies have arisen about the limitations to universal rights. These tensions… Continue reading
A Sad Tailing? Is it OK to Mine Nature?
I went through a process of deep reflection on mining. I can see the sad tale here repeated across the globe in lots of different disputes between multinationals and indigenous people. I see the latter perceiving themselves as vulnerable as they don’t have the education or the money to receive justice. Our… Continue reading
Is It OK to mine?
You decide.
The next blog is a poem I felt inspired to write.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok_Tedi_environmental_disaster
The Ok Tedi Mine operates to extract copper-gold porphyry from an open pit mine in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. The Ok Tedi environmental disaster associated with it, due to the annual discharge of millions of tons… Continue reading
HRW: The Bush Administration is Getting Away with Torture
Democracy is not about force or control. It is about sharing power and liberty. Real freedom is not just doing what you want to at the expense of others it is truly feeling the peace of freedom where you are free to live to your highest potential. There is nothing free in… Continue reading
Guantanamo Bay is not about US Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
This issue has come up randomly today. The meaning of terrorism according to online dictionaries is:
“The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.”
I think of the military here immediately as an associated thought. The only difference is we speak of State sactioned violence and those who are… Continue reading
Is Australia and China’s Relationship Compatible with Shared Values and UDHR?
This is an issue that comes to me as an inspiration. I have written a flow of ideas as I try and discern what is happening and also post links from Falun Gong and an article by CNN reporting American discourse about human rights in China below. The biggest strategic error in my… Continue reading