Atheism for Kids

There are two* things wrong with religion:

1. The unsubstantiated beliefs, themselves, and
2. The fervour with which belief systems are defended by their adherents.

For the first reason, I want to prevent my daughter from being exposed to crazy ideas at an age predating her critical-thinking abilities.

Myki Sucks

Tomorrow is going to be a very sad day for me.

It's the day I'll use the last trip on my last value Metcard, and will effectively be forced to buy a Myki card.

The sale of multi-trip value cards stopped at the end of June, and I had meant to stock up on a few hundred dollars worth beforehand, to delay the inevitable, but I forgot about it, due to focussing on a long essay for uni.

Instead, I'm going to be forced to use the worst public transport ticketing system I've ever seen.

Supporting Julian Assange - Melbourne Protest

On 31st May, 2012, there were rallies around Australia, being the day following the UK Supreme Court's decision to dismiss Julian Assange's appeal against extradition to Sweden.

The Misnomer of "Single Issue"

The Pirate Party is often called a single-issue party, or criticised for not having an official point of view on every topic under the sun. I think it's more that we are focused on bringing light to the neglected, though extremely important issues surrounding the erosion of civil liberties, yet I can understand people's concerns.

Gillard Supports Gay Marriage

Julia Gillard's public opposition to allowing gay people to marry has attracted a lot of vocal opposition for a few years now. Over the last few days, however, the issue has been particularly inflamed due to Barack Obama's professed support for gay marriage. If you follow that link and watch the video, Obama can be heard to say, from 1:08, that:

"We are moving forward to a country where every American is treated with dignity and respect, and here in Washington, you'll have the chance to make your voice heard on the issue of making sure that everybody, regardless of sexual orientation, is treated fairly."

Notice Obama's use of the term "moving forward". Julia Gillard used the term a ridiculous number of times when Labor managed to do a deal to form government a couple of years ago. Her usage did not extend to sexual equality.

Gillard has often fallen back on quoting the fact that the Marriage Act defines marriage as "the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life." There are obvious issues with her position. It's not one made from conviction. It's based on a presumption that it's the law, therefore she can't change it. Clearly, changing the law is her job description. She also ignores the part of the definition that while marriage is voluntarily entered into, as often as not, it is not for life. It's clearly just a crutch that sounds legitimate on the surface.

So here's why Gillard probably supports gay marriage: She's an educated, intelligent Atheist.