Julian Burnside Defends Wikileaks

I've posted a report about Law Institute Victoria's Wikileaks forum in Melbourne on 9 December.

It includes a video of the speech by human rights lawyer Julian Burnside.

Julian Burnside, well known and respected human rights lawyer, has condemned calls by United States politicians and media commentators for the assassination of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He spoke at a forum hosted by the Law Institute Victoria in Melbourne on Thursday 9 December.

He also attacked the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and Attorney General Robert Mcclelland, for their responses to Cablegate

Full post here:

Melbourne WikiLeaks Forum Condemns Politicians

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Gillard's East Timor Solution for Asylum Seekers

After all the dog whistle doom and gloom around Julia Gillard and asylum seeker policy, the last thing you would have expected today was the Refugee Council of Australia praising her on the midday news.

"Refugee Council of Australia president John Gibson says Prime Minister Julia Gillard's plan to process asylum seekers in East Timor is a positive policy change."
Video interview here.

The announcement of a proposed regional processing centre in Timor-Leste left a lot of people flat-footed:

JULIA Gillard has held talks with East Timor's leader to establish a regional processing centre for asylum-seekers on Australia's doorstep.

The Prime Minister revealed today she has also spoken to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and the UNHCR about a regional centre.

Ms Gillard said she would not oversee a return to the Pacific Solution and warned there was no quick fix to the problem of deterring asylum-seekers.
Gillard in talks with E Timor leader to establish processing centre for asylum-seekers

It took the longest headline in memory to catch up with the latest. Strange there were no leaks or scoops.

Not everyone has been as please as the Refugee Council. Bernard Keane at Crikey called it "unedifying". Not the harshest of criticism from a master of invective.

So it appears to be 2-0 Gillard v. Abbott. That would be a winning lead in any of this year's World Cup matches. She said 'game on' and meant.

Steady on! The election hasn't even been called, despite Joe Hockey's wrong call.

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Mekamui Message

My latest post for the Th!nk3: Developing World competition:

Mekamui Message - No More Mining, No More Bloodshed

Clive Porabou is taking a strong message to London. When he attends the Rio Tinto Annual General Meeting on 15 April, he'll be telling them 'no more mining' on Mekanui (Bougainville Island). Bougainville Copper Limited's Panguna mine closed in 1989 after an armed struggle against the company and the government of Papua New Guinea. BCL is controlled by mining giant Rio Tinto.

Mekamui Message: No More Mining, No More Bloodshed

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The Tall Man Story Continues

It was pure coincidence that our book club was discussing Chloe Hooper’s award winning The Tall Man last week. It is the account of the 2004 death-in-police-custody of Cameron Doomadgee and the trial of Senior Sergeant Christopher Hurley. The Inquest into the death has just reopened on Queensland’s Palm Island:

An inquest into the death held in 2005 concluded that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley caused the fatal injuries.

He was found not guilty of manslaughter and assault in 2007.

Sergeant Hurley later appealed the original inquest findings and a district court judge ordered the inquest be reopened.
Doomadgee inquest reopens

Our club members are mostly in their thirties plus two baby boomers to add a bit of living history, sort of fiction fossils. In this case it's non-fiction. The general consensus was that Chloe has given a balanced account despite her closeness to the Doomadgee family and legal team.

Andrew Bartlett, former Australian Democrats Senator and current Green’s candidate, has followed the tragic events:

It is well over five years since Mulrunji Doomagee died in police custody on Palm Island, his ribs broken and his liver nearly sliced in two. Previous coronial inquests and trials have wound a tortuous path, with various assertions about the cause of death ranging from the consequences of a “complicated fall” to suggestions Mulrunji’s injuries were inflicted by a more direct methods.
Palm Island Inquest Resumes (again)

He links to Monique Bond’s blog about Palm Island, Monique's notes re Palm Island and other topics

She concludes her Background on the Mulrinji inquest 2006:

The Inquest cannot change the root causes of the problems on Palm Island. We can cooperate to improve the relationship between islanders and the police. However, unless the power balance changes so that the Islanders own the agenda and an attitude of mutual respect is insisted on, nothing will improve.

The background to this tragic story is very bleak:

• the appalling treatment of indigenous people in Queensland by settlers, government and police;
• the forced relocation of the unwanted and ‘undesirables’ to Palm Island’s virtual prison;
• the continuing consequences of the stolen generations and separated families;
• the culture of apathy and denial within the police, forensic pathologists and the justice system;
• the code of coverup;
• the ‘them and us’ attitudes of some in the Deep North towards their Southern cousins;
• the legacy of Christian missions on indigenous beliefs and values;
• the sorry state of reconciliation in parts of Australia.

It’s hard to come away from this confronting book with any optimism. The investigation was compromised by the casual clubbiness of the police involved. Two key aboriginal witnesses were not called to testify. One, according to Hooper, because of his 'drinking and inconsistencies', the other because ‘he was “more copper than blackfella”’. The acquittal took only 3 hours of jury deliberation including lunch. It has taken six years for Hurley to make any sort of apology to the family.

Too many aboriginal communities are dominated by whites who hold most of the important jobs and the real power. Even aboriginal community police hold little or no real authority.

Chloe Hooper’s frank verdict on the tall man:

Hurley had become a kind of folk hero. It was as if he’d been not so much acquitted as forgiven And in forgiving him, people forgave themselves.

It’s easy to feel that she was trying to nail him for the still unexplained violent death of Cameron Doomadgee. The book club members felt that she was more interested in exposing the way things are, in finding some kind of truth. Unfortunately the latest inquest is unlikely to nail the truth either.

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Vindaloo Against Violence Goes Viral

Cross post from Global Voices:

Migrants are always praised for broadening the food we eat. The multicultural cuisine cliché is being put to good use this Wednesday 24 February. This follows the furore caused by violence against Indians living in Australia. Better community relations are being promoted through our restaurants.
Australia: Vindaloo Against Violence Goes Viral

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Burqa Strains Multicultural Australia

A cross post from Global Voices:

Since the proposed bans on the wearing of the burqa in France, the issue has been simmering in the Australian blogosphere. An Australian radio shock-jock, and ex-police officer, drew criticism recently over his opposition to the wearing of the burqa in public.

Michael Smith argued that bank staff and shop assistants are concerned with possible criminal misuse. He also suggested that young children are frightened by encounters with women wearing the “full-on burqa”, comparing it to “kids crying, getting the fright of their lives when seeing Santa Claus”.
Burqa Strains Multicultural Australia

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New Hampshire New Year Welcomes Gay Marriage

After a bleak end to last year, 2010 brings positive news from New Hampshire:

Gay and lesbian couples rushed to marry in New Hampshire on Friday when at the stroke of midnight it became the fifth U.S. state to allow same-sex marriage, reversing some setbacks for the polarizing national movement.
Gays rush to marry at New Hampshire statehouse

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No Way Through to Bethlehem Maternity

Not that easy to get into and around Palestine these days. Thanks to Global Voices author Jillian York for alerting us to this video.

No Way Through won the Ctrl.Alt.Shift film Competition

How many more checkpoints to Bethlehem maternity? Try the inn.

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Threatened Voices: Defending Free Speech Online

Introducing Threatened Voices is a new project at Global Voices:

Today, Global Voices Advocacy is launching a new website called Threatened Voices to help track suppression of free speech online. It features a world map and an interactive timeline that help visualize the story of threats and arrests against bloggers worldwide, and it is a central platform to gather information from the most dedicated organisations and activists

Click the link for more details.

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Australia: Kenyan women refused refugee status

Cross-post at Global Voices:

Australia: Kenyan women refused refugee status

It's surprising and disappointing that few regulars in the blogosphere have posted about this case!

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Sauce for the goose: film festival politics

Cross post from Cinema Takes:

So what's sauce for the goose...

You're a filmmaker who objects to a particular government's actions. Then boycott film festivals with whom they are connected.

You're a country that objects to a film festival that has entries critical of your government. Boycott it.

The Goose:

British director Ken Loach has withdrawn his film Looking for Eric from the Melbourne International Film Festival in protest of Israeli government funding.
UK director pulls out of Melbourne film fest over Israel funding

The Gander:

THE Melbourne International Film Festival is reeling after the withdrawal of three Chinese films in what appears to be retaliation for the festival's backing of a documentary about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.
China pulls films out of festival

Once upon a time the debate was about sporting boycotts such as the 1971 Springbok rugby tour. Mixing politics and sport. The Moscow and Los Angeles Olympic Games were the main casualties.

The dilemma: To protest against Israel you forgo the Uighur documentary. Rather than bin your membership of the Melbourne International Film Festival, the only alternative seems to be to lobby the Festival to end sponsorship by foreign governments or political organisations.

That's the course I'll be taking. Any thoughts?

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Australia's Tangled Censorship Web

Confused by all the controversy surrounding the Australian Government plans to filter the internet? New Matilda has been holding forums about the proposed censorship regime. Here's some video to help explain.



Melbourne's session featured:

Colin Jacobs, Electronic Frontiers Australia
Michael Flood, Sociologist
Senator Scott Ludlam, Australian Greens

From Michael Flood:

I'm now far less than convinced that I used to be of the value of ISP based filtering as a strategy. I'm much more convinced of its technical problems and I'm more convinced of its political dangers. ... You can say that one of the early advocates of ISP filtering is now backing away from this.

No permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interests.

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Australians divided by Durban II boycott

Cross post for Global Voices:

The decision by the Rudd government to boycott the United Nations Conference on Racism in Durban was a controversial one:

Australia remains undecided about whether it will attend a controversial United Nations conference, which begins in a fortnight.

There are fears the Durban Review Conference, to be held in Geneva from April 20-24, could become a repeat of the original South African event in 2001, which was marred by claims of anti-Semitism.

Govt not sure over UN Durban conference

The decision was only taken at the last minute:

AUSTRALIA will not take part in a controversial United Nations anti-racism conference in Geneva this week.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said the Geneva meeting reaffirms the 2001 outcomes, singling out Israel and the Middle East.

"Regrettably, we cannot be confident that the review conference will not again be used as a platform to air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views," Mr Smith said.

Australia to boycott UN anti-racism conference

Many Australian bloggers took the opposite view.

Duckpond argued:

Sometimes the truth needs to be told, and it can be unpleasant and discomforting. So was President Admadinejad doing that?

Ahmadinejad is not saying anything here in these extracts that is extraordinary. Anybody who even half follows events knows what he is saying is accurate. So why all the drama?

SPEAKING THE TRUTH

At group blog Larvatus Prodeo, Paul Norton explained his position on the Middle East:

I support Israel’s right to exist and a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and I am a critic of unbalanced, inflammatory and obsessive criticism of Israel. However, I am also critical of unbalanced, inflammatory and obsessive idealisation of Israel, of the kind that is rife in the polities of various Western countries including Australia and the United States.

He then addressed his concern about the boycotting countries:

One wonders how the countries participating in the Conference (including all of Africa, Russia, Asia (except for Israel), South and Central America and the Vatican) will interpret a boycott confined exclusively to the wealthy white men’s club. How might they respond to the fact that nations such as the US and Australia consider a purported slight on Israel’s good name to be of greater moment than many other issues on which agreement and cooperation is possible with countries of the global South and global East, and sufficient grounds to refuse to attend a forum to discuss such cooperation?

What if they held a conference on racism and all the whiteys stayed away?

Jason Soon, a supprter of the boycott, began an open forum at catallaxyfiles:

... devoted solely to the recent UN talkfest which for once has made Kevin Rudd do the right thing and boycott. So fire away. A little fuel for the fire
here.

Open forum for UN lovers and haters

On the other hand Gary Sauer-Thompson at Public Opinion decried the Rudd government's lack of courage:

I wasn't surprised that Australia didn't have the courage to attend the UN conference on racism (known as the Durban review) and then debate the views of those it disagreed with, namely President Ahmadinejad's interpretation of Zionist history. They just stayed away, rather than making the arguments that need to be made against Ahmadinejad and his followers.

Zionism does need to be questioned because this form of nationalism rationalizes conquest and colonization as “redemption” of Jewish territory on behalf of the world’s Jews. It treats the Palestinians only as an obstacle and threat to its own purposes, not as people with the same rights as Jews and with legitimate claim to the land on which they were born.

at the UN

Dan Goldberg, national editor of the Australian Jewish News from 2002-2007, put the case against the Conference in the strongest terms at New Matilda.

The UN's conference against racism opened yesterday. But Dan Goldberg writes that the meeting is a sham which reminds him of some other low-points in the history of hate:

Remarkably, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was welcomed into the bosom of Europe at a conference intended to deal with racism. It's a perverse irony at best; an utter abomination at worst. And all this on April 20 — the anniversary of Hitler's birthday.

Unsurprisingly, the tyrant of Tehran launched his invective at the Jewish state, accusing it of being the "racist perpetrators of genocide". The bulk of the Arab delegates applauded. The 23 representatives of the European Union walked out. On the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, the United Nations, which has long been a bastion for Israel-bashing, hosted a dyed-in-the-wool Holocaust denier. Ahmadinejad didn't refer to the Holocaust by name, but left little doubt of his support for a second Holocaust against "the most cruel and repressive, racist regime in Palestine".

Red-Letter Days For Racism

Author of the My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution, Antony Loewenstein, is a well known and controversial commentator on the Middle East and critic of Zionism.

As a Jew who writes extensively about Israel/Palestine, I have no desire for Iran to speak for me on human rights (and my recent book, The Blogging Revolution, details the woeful record of the Islamic Republic.) But the fierce resistence to even examine the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and its well documented recent abuses in Gaza is shameful. These are not actions of a civilised nation. It is the behaviour that we would condemn if done by a relatively unknown Third World nation, but Israel is seemingly untouchable.

Durban II, the how, why and who

A final word comes from the mass media. Tim Blair who blogs for Sydney’s Daily Telegraph made his opinion of Iran's President Ahmadinejad quite clear:

Civilisation declined to attend the UN’s anti-Israel festival. Other representatives left once they realised what kind of atrocity they’d blundered into.

They can’t say they weren’t warned.

HATEFEST TURNS HATEFUL

The Middle East continues to divide Australians and the world.

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Playing Political Bingo with Boat People

A cross post for Global Voices:

An upturn in the arrival of refugees to Australia by boat has brought tragedy and controversy. The issue of border protection that dominated the 2001 Federal election has re-emerged with extra venom.

A refugee boat has exploded off the north west coast.Three people are dead, two are missing and more than thirty have been injured, some with very serious burns. Three members of the Australian Defence Force, which was towing the boat, are among the injured.

Western Australian police say three people are dead and two are missing following an explosion on board an asylum-seekers' boat being escorted to Christmas Island this morning.

Three dead, dozens injured after explosion on asylum boat ABC News Online 17 April 2009

Allegations that the fatal explosion was caused by asylum seekers have also revived the political storm surrounding the children overboard affair.

Claims that fuel was deliberately poured over the small wooden fishing vessel before the blast will be the focus of inquiries by police and the Northern Territory coroner.

Sabotage fear on boat blast The Age 17 April 2009

A political stoush has erupted with Opposition parliamentarians accusing the government of causing the increase in boat people and encouraging people smuggling through its changes to border protection.

Bloggers are also taking off the gloves. Gary Sauer-Thompson at Public Opinion bemoaned the attempts to politicise asylum seekers again:

Doesn't the old hang on. The Liberals are banging the drum about border security, bad asylum seekers, boat people and soft on security. It is just like a replay of the old children overboard affair with undercurrent of Asian hordes invading Australia because they read The Australian and realized that Rudd Government has gone soft on the processing of asylum seekers.

The reality is that most asylum seekers arrive by plane, many are sent back, whilst the asylum seekers who arrive by boat are processed on Christmas Island. Children are treated more humanely, the so-called “Pacific Solution”, which had people sent to Nauru has been abolished and it has scrapped temporary protection visas, as well as reforming detention policy.

banging an old drum

Mark Thomson’s blog, Seeking Asylum Down Under, has a clear purpose:

Yes, we remember! Blame the victims for their own plight, extract as much sensationalism out of the role of people smugglers, put words in the mouth of ADF personnel who cannot answer for themselves, and then whip up public sentiment against refugees. Throw in dollops of confected outrage over your political opponents complete lack of preparedness to face down the ‘threat' and you have the typical Lib's stock in trade response to the terrible plight of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet.

Oh, I forgot - then you set about making weak neighbouring countries complicit in policies that violate human rights!

Human rights in Australia - the fear & smear Liberals are at it again over asylum seekers!

Another progressive blog, Club Troppo, was more restrained:

Yesterday’s “boat people” explosion near Ashmore Reef west of Darwin, in which 3 people were apparently killed outright and many more seriously injured, has eerie if obvious parallels with the “children overboard” saga of 2001 which helped John Howard to his third successive election victory.

Returning to the present, there is a crucial difference between the situation the “children overboard” and “Tampa” asylum seekers faced and that of yesterday’s group whose boat apparently caught fire and exploded. The current group didn’t face being towed back out to sea, and they almost certainly didn’t face prolonged immigration detention while their protection visa applications were processed.

In those circumstances, WA Premier Colin Barnett’s claims that the asylum seekers deliberately doused their vessel and the surrounding waters with petrol doesn’t seem to make sense. There must be more to it than we’re being told, unless these particular asylum seekers simply hadn’t heard that the old Howard government “towaway zone” or ”lock ‘em up offshore and throw away the key” policies were no longer operative. There’s a lot more to be told about this story.

The old explosive asylum story reignites

The alternative view was put strongly by Andrew Bolt, newspaper columnist for Rupert Murdoch’s Herald-Sun and perhaps Australia’s best known and controversial right-wing blogger:

AT least three boat people now dead. So how much “kinder” do Kevin Rudd’s policies seem now?

John Howard was supposed to be the cruel one, said Labor. It was Howard when Prime Minister who put in the Pacific Solution, whisking illegal boat people to Nauru, rather than land them here.

Too harsh, said Kevin Rudd, and scrapped it. It was Howard who cut the legal circus that allowed illegal immigrants to play the system for years, until we gave up trying to deport them.

Too harsh, said Rudd, and laid on lawyers. It was Howard who cut the lure of benefits and then imposed on illegal immigrants the imminent threat of return.

Too harsh, said Rudd, and scrapped the Temporary Protection Visas, giving all illegal immigrants—including well-heeled ones fleeing no particular danger—instant access to permanent residency with all the tempting benefits and rights.

Too harsh, said Rudd. And enlightened opinion cheered. Now we were nice. Really? So how nice is it to have now lured at least three people to their deaths? To have not one child overboard—oh, what a confected scandal that was—but a whole boatload of 49?

Yes, indeed. This is a “people overboard” scandal, but for real this time.

People overboard, and the kindness than kills

Possum Comitatus at Pollytics did not show any restraint when condemning Bolt’s post:

… there is no larger magnet for outright bigotry than asylum seekers.

With refugees it’s literally Moral Panic Bingo; Islam, terrorists, race, xenophobia – refugees are the ultimate canvas upon which the shallow end of the public affairs pool can paint their own preferred pathological animosities. If you don’t believe me, then undertake an experiment:

Write down 9 favourite themes of the small minded nutjob set, not specifically about any given thing, any old generically bigoted idiocy will do – then pop on over to the usual creatures that prey on such feeble minded antipathy and read the comments sections on any post they have about asylum seekers. Every time one of your predicted themes is mentioned by a commenter, mark it off - you won’t have to read far before you’ll be shouting “Wingnut Bingo!”.

Of all the Wingnut Bingo halls in the land, there is none bigger than that hosted by The Undescended Testicle.*

He started yesterday with his sneering innuendo, of asylum seekers being “Lured by Rudd to their deaths?”. There really are no boundaries that Bolt’s hysterical Rudd Rage refuses to cross – although the only thing really being “lured” here are miscreants by the bucketful into Andrew Bolt’s site –herding the dross of the internet into News Ltd advertising by playing up to their shallow and spiteful little fantasies.

Why Andrew Bolt should be Sodomised with a Calculator – Part 142

Not the usual sort of criticisms we expect from a statistician and psephologist. For his data analysis you’ll have to visit Possum’s post.

It appears that most of those on the boat were fleeing Afghanistan, a country where Australian troops are currently fighting the Taliban.

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Fijians blogging the crisis

Fiji: The calm after the storm?

John Liebhardt has an update for Global Voices on Fijian bloggers' reactions to the nullification of the constitution by the military regime.

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Clean Feed: trawling for critics

According to The Age, iiNet has withdrawn from the trials of Clean Feed the Australian government's proposed mandatory internet filtering system:

AUSTRALIA'S third-largest internet service provider yesterday announced it would not participate in the Federal Government's trials of an internet filter, saying that to do so would conflict with its "corporate social responsibility".
Internet provider shuns filter trial

If an early report from The Age is to be believed Senator Conroy's department is also monitoring websites that are critical of his approach:

THE Government will begin trawling blog sites as part of a new media monitoring strategy, with documents singling out a website critical of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy for special mention.
Labor's blog-watch plan hits Whirlpool of dissent

If you're interested in the discussions then link to the Whirpool forums.

P.S. This blog's traffic is being monitored to see who's watching.

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Clean Feed lurches on

If you didn't hear today's ABC Radio National's Background Briefing, Conroy's Clean Feed, download the podcast or listen to the repeat on Tuesday on Tuesday 17 March at 7pm.

In the name of protecting children, the government is investigating ways to filter 'unwanted' and 'inappropriate' material on the web—seen by some as the thin end of the censorship wedge.

A first class report.

Senator Conroy's Future Directions of the Digital Economy blog has been silent for nearly 6 weeks. Couldn't find anywhere to leave a comment anymore. As ABC reporter Wendy Carlisle remarked, the Minster for Communications isn't always that communicative. At one stage during the report he tells us that the trial is only about technology - the debate about what will be blocked will take place later on. I would be delighted to be corrected.

The Federal parliamentary internet feed is currently censored. Background Briefing has a couple of examples. One has upset anti-abortionists including Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi. Anyway with Nick Xenophon and the Liberal Party right opposed, Conroy and Kevin Rudd should save the money and redirect it to employment programs.

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Sri Lankan Crisis Statement: Sign Now!

The following is the Sri Lankan Crisis Statement. The organisers believe that "over 600 civilians may have died in the military offensive this week alone". It has received minimal publicity in Australia. If you would like to sign it, please click the link and leave a comment:

We are Australian citizens who share a deep concern about the escalating civilian crisis in Sri Lanka.

We call on the Australian government to demand the Sri Lankan authorities and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam declare an immediate ceasefire.

We are deeply concerned about the lack of medical staff and aid agencies serving the estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in the conflict zone.

In September 2008, the Sri Lankan government evicted United Nations and international aid agencies from these areas. While the local Red Cross is still operating within the conflict area, their presence is threatened by the ongoing conflict.

The departure of international witnesses within the conflict area will remove accountability for all parties to the conflict.

The Sri Lankan government has also issued orders to doctors and other health staff to leave the conflict area immediately.

We demand the Sri Lankan government allow international monitoring and medical and aid agencies unrestricted access to the conflict zones immediately.

In direct violation of the Geneva Convention, civilian hospitals in the conflict zones have repeatedly come under aerial bombing and shelling. Furthermore, on 2 February 2009 the Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse stated that everything outside a government declared safety-zone is a military target and no exception will be given to medical facilities. We urge the Australian government to demand the Sri Lankan government stop the aerial bombing of hospitals and both parties cease placing civilians in direct cross fire in all areas.

Foreign and domestic media have been banned from entering the conflict zones since January 2008, when the government unilaterally withdrew from a cease-fire and commenced its military offensive. Without independent reporting, it is impossible to separate fact from propaganda by all parties to the conflict.

We call on the Australian government to pressure Sri Lankan officials to permit independent journalists unrestricted access to the conflict zones.

Furthermore, we recognise that the Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka have been subject to ethnic discrimination by successive Sri Lankan governments since Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948.

We acknowledge that all people, including the Tamils, have the right to self-determination and must freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

We acknowledge that a military solution to this conflict will not bring lasting peace to Sri Lanka. With the intention of ensuring long-term peace, we call on the Australian government to lead political negotiations that recognise the legitimate aspirations and protects the human rights of all Sri Lankans.

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Censorwatch: The people's Herdict

Concerned about internet filtering and censorship. Get the latest tool in the information flow, Herdict, compliments of The Berkman Center:

As governments and institutions throughout the globe increasingly work to control the flow of information on the Internet, online filtration and censorship have become significant threats to speech on the web. Even worse, these efforts often go undetected. The groups responsible rarely (if ever) announce their intentions, and the precise details of online censorship regimes are equally difficult to track. Obviously, this complicates attempts by activists and researchers to respond to Internet filtration or blocking.

Herdict Web attempts to shed light on this previously opaque activity on the web by generating a dynamic map of information accessibility around the world. Developed by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Herdict Web provides up-to-date reports on where and when sites are inaccessible, and what kinds of users are facing difficulty. In turn, it transparently makes this information openly available online for discussion and further exploration by the public at large.

The Scoop on Herdict Web

To function effectively, it relies on input from individuals about inaccessbility to websites. That's us. What's that cliché about the price of democracy?

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Gay Pride

Seems a fitting follow-up to my Harvey Milk post yesterday. During the film Milk jokes that a death threat was probably sent by the police. We've come a long way in 20 years. Victoria's Police Commissioner, Christine Nixon, is to be congratulated for her support of and attendance at the Melbourne's Pride March:

It was the second and final time Ms Nixon would lead a contingent of uniformed officers in the march, which is now in its 14th year and celebrates Victoria's gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender and intersex community.

The first time she marched, in 2002, it drew controversy. This time, it was celebrated.
Nixon gets pride of place in gay parade (The Age 2 February 2009)

Another first was the naming of Johanna Sigurdardottir as the new Prime Minister of Iceland:

The 66-year-old's appointment as interim leader - until elections in May - is seen by many as a milestone for the gay and lesbian movement, correspondents say.

Ms Sigurdardottir - who has never hidden her sexuality - is, nevetherless, very private about her personal life, never discussing it in public.

She married her companion Jonina Ledsdottir in 2002, according to AFP news agency.
First gay PM for Iceland cabinet

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