Guest Author • Jun 22, 2018 •
Paresh Kathrani, University of Westminster Amazon has recently developed an option whereby Alexa will only activate if people address it with a “please”. This suggests that we are starting to recognise some intelligent machines in a way that was previously reserved only for humans. In fact, this could very well be the first step towards recognising the … Read More
Guest Author • Feb 05, 2018 •
Bhaskar Chakravorti, Tufts University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Facebook has a world of problems. Beyond charges of Russian manipulation and promoting fake news, the company’s signature social media platform is under fire for being addictive, causing anxiety and depression, and even instigating human rights … Read More
Eric Crampton • Nov 07, 2016 •
New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission says that property rights need to be protected in the Bill of Rights. I couldn’t agree more enthusiastically. The report is about what the government did to people in Christchurch’s Red Zone. The land around the Avon River was a mess after the quakes. The government decided that the simplest thing … Read More
Guest Author • Apr 22, 2016 •
By Anika Molesworth, Deakin University Climate change is one of the principal threats to quality – and equality – of life on our planet. Beyond environmental problems, climate change threatens food security, water availability, health, housing and self-determination. In essence, it confronts our basic liberties and pursuit of happiness. But the burden of climate change impacts is … Read More
Ken Perrott • Jul 23, 2015 •
Click the image to go to the video (unfortunately I can’t embed the video here). The video demonstrates “The Stunning 15-Year March to Marriage Equality Around the World.” And it certainly shows how rapid this change in community values has been. I suppose … Continue reading → … Read More
Ken Perrott • Jul 13, 2015 •
Looks like we might be making a bit of progress in attempts to establish a genuine secular education system in New Zealand. There are reports that “secular education advocates have had a win in their fight against the Bible in … Continue reading → … Read More
Ken Perrott • May 12, 2015 •
Click to enlarge – Moscow Celebration of Victory day. Image Credit: NBC News The recent commemorations of ANZAC Day (in New Zealand), Victory day (Internationally) and Mothers’ day got me thinking about how we mark these events. Thinking spurred on by … Continue reading → … Read More
Ken Perrott • Mar 15, 2015 •
Several days ago Ukraine Today reported the death of a former politician in the Yanukovych government which was overthrown in a coup last year. He was Oleksandr Peklushenko, the ex-head of a regional council in central Ukraine. Authorities are claiming he … Continue reading → … Read More
Ken Perrott • Mar 05, 2015 •
Politicking: Stephen Cohen on the Ukraine crisis and his ‘unpatriotic’ views At last – something sensible from an American perspective on the Ukrainian crisis and the new cold war. The trouble is – it’s a minority viewpoint and no-one in power seems to be listening. Similar articles … Read More
Ken Perrott • Feb 05, 2015 •
Social health policies inevitably raise the issue of the individual’s freedom of choice. While debates around these policies often concentrate on questions of fact, scientific consensus and reliability of evidence, these tend to be surrogates for the underlying values issues. To … Continue reading → … Read More