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Category Archives: Society

Science, religion and how things came to be

February 27, 2010 – 2:37 pm

I think I’ve said before that I was raised by scientists. When possible, I try to explain things scientifically to my children. Obviously there’s a limit to their understanding at this point, but when they were scared of thunder and lightning recently, I told my daughter it wasn’t monsters (as she feared) but electricity in [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Education, Religion, Science, Skeptics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (72)

Sharing is not always a good thing

February 19, 2010 – 2:16 pm

[Warning, if you are eating, do not continue reading this post.]
I just had occasion to shiver all over with horror. You know, when something is so awful that you feel like your skin is crawling off your back? What could be so awful…?
The cause of my horror was the article where Tony Abbott was moaning [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Fark!, Media, Politics, Privacy, anthony daniels | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (17)

Chained to the kitchen sink…

February 15, 2010 – 1:30 pm

Via Larvatus Prodeo, I became aware of KRudd’s latest gem – a PhD is an “excuse for not having kids”. (What is it with the political leaders in our country at the moment?)
Nina Funnell, a thirty something researcher, attended a function where Kevin Rudd spoke on an ageing population. Her story follows:
I was at a [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Feminism, Motherhood, Public Policy | Tagged , , , , | Comments (99)

Celebrity politicians – are they worth it?

February 12, 2010 – 1:10 pm

I confess that I’ve never really held much brief for celebrity politicians.  Of course, I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, so I try to cast my prejudice aside. But I can’t help thinking that if you’re a performer or an actor or a musician, you might not have had much experience [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Politics, Public Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (31)

Restitution for wrongs and child pornography

February 3, 2010 – 9:01 pm

A friend alerted to me to an interesting case reported in the New York Times involving monetary restitution to a victim of child pornography  who goes by the pseudonym “Amy”.
When she was 8 or 9 years old, Amy’s uncle had filmed her in a series of pornographic photographs known as the “Misty” series. Amy is [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Equity, Human/Civil rights, Law, Restitution, anthony daniels | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (16)

Lawyers for pets

February 1, 2010 – 9:14 am

Long-time readers of this blog will know I’m fascinated by animals and the law. A while back I wrote a post on the topic of pets who are recipients of bequests, and discussed the possibility of a rich animal being better represented before the law than a poor human being. The dog in that post [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Animals, Fark!, Human/Civil rights, Law | Tagged , , , | Comments (12)

Food allergies and negligence

January 27, 2010 – 12:47 pm

Via the Obligations Discussion Group, I have become aware of a recent English High Court case, Bhamra v Dubb (trading as Lucky Caterers) [2010] EWCA Civ 13. As someone who suffers from a severe food allergy myself (anaphylactic reaction to tree nuts) this case is of intense interest to me.
The facts of the case are [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Law, Religion | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (15)

Political correctness on campus

January 21, 2010 – 8:36 pm

Via a friend, I came across this interesting piece on political correctness on US university campuses. The author starts out with a salutary tale:
In 2007 a student working his way through college was found guilty of racial harassment for reading a book in public. Some of his co-workers had been offended by the book’s cover, [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Education, Free Speech, Human/Civil rights, Literature, Personal liberty, Politics, Racism | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (43)

The limits of law

January 19, 2010 – 9:07 pm

[Update: now cross posted at Online Opinion - 22/1/10]
One of the things that I’m thinking about in my PhD is the limits of law. What can law change? And more importantly, what can’t it change? Who enforces the law? Can we change the way in which people behave by regulating them more?
Via CoreEconomics, I came [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Economics, Human/Civil rights, Law, Personal liberty | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (48)

Earliest political memories

January 15, 2010 – 7:25 pm

[Cross posted at Larvatus Prodeo]
Today my daughter was playing with her pink superball while my son was asleep (it’s small, so she’s only allowed to get it out while he’s sleeping). I heard her mutter to her toys while brandishing the pink superball, “This is the Prime Minister, and if you do something he doesn’t [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (14)