The Singularity and Social Media
Here’s something I didn’t know existed until today – video of my talk from the 2010 Singularity Summit in Melbourne.
No Illusions Podcast #51 – Josh McDonald on Gun Ownership
UPDATE: Josh has clarified his thoughts on his blog. Good work.
My guest on NIP#51 is Josh McDonald (aka Sophistifunk), software developer in Melbourne and a former cigar buddy of mine when he lived in Brisbane.
Josh’s love of guns is something I’ve known about but we’ve never delved too deeply into it. When I chatted with him last week, I asked him to explain his reasoning to me. I’ll let you decide whether or not his arguments are compelling.
BTW, this is definitely NOT his blog.
No Illusions Podcast #50 – Aboriginal Suicide
I wonder how many of you are, like me, feeling terrible about the indigenous affairs situation in Australia.
Gundjeihmi hand stencil
My guest today is Justin O’Brien, Executive Officer of the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (www.mirarr.net). The Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) represents the Mirarr traditional owners of the Ranger uranium mine area, the site of the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine, much of Kakadu National Park and parts of Western Arnhem Land. They are the royalty receiving entity for the Ranger uranium mine and intimately associated with the political and social advancement of Indigenous rights.
We talk about some of the factors relating to indigenous youth suicide and the general need for more non-indigenous Australians to spend time with our indigenous citizens so we can better understand their situation.
No Illusions #49 – Rob McNealy on Gun Ownership
Rob McNealy is back on the show (see gdayworld #329 for his last appearance four years ago) and he’s talking about gun ownership. Rob is a huge believer that citizens need to have weapons to defend themselves against a tyrannical government and for self-defence.
Just in time for the show, here’s a quote from a recent article by former PM John Howard:
Research published in 2010 in the American Journal of Law and Economics found that firearm homicides, in Australia, dropped 59 per cent between 1995 and 2006. There was no offsetting increase in non-firearm-related murders. Researchers at Harvard University in 2011 revealed that in the 18 years prior to the 1996 Australian laws, there were 13 gun massacres (four or more fatalities) in Australia, resulting in 102 deaths. There have been none in that category since the Port Arthur laws.
(Thanks Angus for the link!)
Other Links:
- Rob’s Facebook page
- List of countries by firearm-related death rate
- The history of gun politics in Australia
- Robbery Stats in Australia 1995 – 2007
- Number of U.S. Deaths Due to Firearms per 100,000 Population by Race/Ethnicity, 2008
- Robberies by country
- List of countries by intentional homicide rate
