Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Notes: Wednesday, December 4-Tuesday, December 31, 2013 (part 3 of 3)

15. New South Wales (N.S.W.) Premier "Mr O’Farrell said Mr Vic Alhadeff had been appointed the new Community Relations Commission’s Chair, and Mr Hakan Harman as its CEO."

The quotation in that headline comes from the media release "NEW CHAIR TO LEAD COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION", no author credited, dated Friday, December 17, 2013 (sic—presumably the author meant Tuesday, December 17, 2013, given that those appointments came to my attention via the Wednesday, December 18, 2013 issue of the Sydney Daily Telegraph), downloaded from the N.S.W. Premier's website:

http://www.premier.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/NEW%20CHAIR%20TO%20LEAD%20COMMUNITY%20RELATIONS%20COMMISSION.pdf

and also available at the Community Relations Commission's (C.R.C.'s) and Office of Communities' respective websites:

http://www.crc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/22453/131219_New_Chair_to_Lead_Community_Relations_Commission.pdf

http://www.communities.nsw.gov.au/assets/pubs/media/citizenship_communities/131217_new_chair_to_lead_Community_Relations_Commission.pdf

For reaction to Mr. Alhadeff's appointment, see the article "George Brandis reveals new direction for human rights commission", by Deborah Snow, dated December 21, 2013, in which Ms Snow observes that
Ironically, as the Abbott government prepares to soften laws against racially offensive speech, the O'Farrell government in New South Wales seems headed down a different path. This week it appointed the chief of the Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Alhadeff, as chairman of the state community relations commission. Alhadeff, a former South African newsman, was a fierce opponent of apartheid who lost grandparents in the Holocaust. As a consequence, he is a staunch defender of anti-discrimination laws, particularly those aimed at racism.
[downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/george-brandis-reveals-new-direction-for-human-rights-commission-20131220-2zqpk.html?skin=text-only
and brought to my attention by the version printed under the headline "Inside job draws fire", by the same author, pp. 6-7 in the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, December 21-22, 2013, no issue number stated (but presumably No. 54976—the issue number for December 28-29, 2013, minus five (not seven, since The Sun-Herald doesn't count, and not six, since there was no Herald on Christmas Day)), ISSN 0312-6315]
and see also the Middle East Reality Check blog posts "The New Face of Multiculturalism in NSW" and "'A Fierce Opponent of Apartheid'", both by MERC, dated respectively Thursday, December 19, 2013 and Sunday, December 22, 2013:

http://middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/the-new-face-of-multiculturalism-in-nsw.html

http://middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/a-fierce-opponent-of-apartheid.html

Labels: N.S.W. Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Alhadeff

16. "The Fraser government set up the AHRC as an almost quasi-judicial body that would have the power to enforce rulings on issues within its ambit. But a 1995 High Court judgment stripped the commission of the power to make and enforce decisions, turning it into a toothless tiger. Hence the AHRC no longer conducts hearings."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Brandis and Dreyfus take hypocrisy to a new level", by Prof. Peter van Onselen, dated December 21, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/brandis-and-dreyfus-take-hypocrisy-to-a-new-level/story-fn53lw5p-1226787694605

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline (but with all the letters capitals), with the same author, on p. 18 in the "COMMENTARY" pages of the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, December 21-22, 2013, First Edition, No. 15298, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: A.H.R.C.

17. "A British Medical Journal study on euthanasia in Flanders, Belgium, found that 47 per cent of deaths were not reported. Last year The Lancet published a meta-analysis which found that 23 per cent of euthanasia deaths went unreported by doctors. In both studies, unreported euthanasia was associated with questionable and sometimes illegal practice."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Euthanasia advocates' overkill stymies the right-to-die debate", by Dr. Jennifer Oriel, dated December 28, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/euthanasia-advocates-overkill-stymies-the-righttodie-debate/story-e6frg6zo-1226790758222

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, with the same author, on p. 14 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, December 28-29, 2013, First Edition, No. 15303, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: euthanasia

18. Prof. Anderson et al. apply against life sentences an argument which is often used against the death penalty

See the opinion piece "NSW sentencing laws are out of step with its human rights obligations", by Associate Professor John Anderson, Mrs. Felicity Wardhaugh, and Mr. Daniel Matas, dated December 28, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/nsw-sentencing-laws-are-out-of-step-with-its-human-rights-obligations-20131227-2zz0p.html?skin=text-only

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Parole … eventually" (ellipsis symbol in the original), with the same authors, on p. 11 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, December 28-29, 2013, No. 54981, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: crime, death penalty, justice

19. Cardinal Scola on, among other things, religious liberty and what His Eminence regards as "the proper and necessary non-confessionality of the state"

See the article "THE EDICT OF MILAN: INITIUM LIBERTATIS", by His Eminence The Most Rev. The Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, on pp. 10-19 of the Humanitas review, No. 5 (Second Semester 2013), Biannual English Digital Edition, available for download from here:

http://review.humanitas.cl/

or go straight hither:

http://issuu.com/humanitas60/docs/h5_ingl__s_baja?e=2218461/6092099

Labels: religious liberty, Confessional State

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Tuesday in the Octave of Christmas, and the feast of St. Sylvester I., Pope, Confessor, A.D. 2013

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