Author Archives: andrew

Winston Churchill’s 1899 take on Islam

“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries, … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy And Terrorism | Leave a comment

Keogh murder trial abandoned – as was justice

By Andrew L. Urban. South Australian DPP Adam Kimber has abandoned his attempt to re-try Henry Keogh for the 1994 murder of Keogh’s late girlfriend Anna-Jane Cheney, claiming his reason that a key witness is too ill. At first he … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy and Justice | Leave a comment

The science is unsettled

By Andrew L. Urban In his popular book in praise of science, The Demon-Haunted World (Headline, 1997), the late and great scientist Carl Sagan* argues that science is a way of thinking, a process that demands rigorous standards of evidence … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy and global warming policies | Leave a comment

Burning questions for COP 21 in Paris 2015

By Andrew L. Urban If I were a journalist attending the closing press conference at COP 21* next month, I would be asking the following questions of the spokesman or woman for the delegates: Q: Can COP 21 confirm that … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy and global warming policies | Leave a comment

Leadership and common sense missing in refugee action

By Andrew L. Urban Reporting on parts of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech to The Association of Christian Intelligentsia in Budapest on Friday, October 29, 2015, Hungarian Spectrum blogger Eva Balogh was somewhat dismissive of Orbán: “As far as … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy And Refugees | Leave a comment

Bjorn Lomborg doesn’t belong in Australian academe

By Andrew L. Urban Bjorn Lomborg doesn’t belong in Australian academic circles, as evidenced by the (2015) rush to refuse him a place to run an Antipodean cell of his Copenhagen research centre. Of course not: he insists on rational, … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy and global warming policies | Leave a comment

Australia’s greatest forensic disaster

By Andrew L. Urban The chronic, long term failure of the South Australian legal system to ensure that its chief forensic pathologist was suitably qualified to give evidence was a ticking time bomb that is now about to explode, with … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy and Justice | Leave a comment

Wine, women and … yeast to deradicalise young Muslim men naturally

The absence of women and wine in the daily life of many Muslim societies contributes enormously to violent male behaviour, says one philosopher, while an acclaimed lateral thinker says young men need to have yeast in their diet to curb … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy And Terrorism | Leave a comment

DPPs “should be accountable” say SA barristers

On May 11, 2015, with exquisite timing, just days after the South Australian DPP Adam Kimber SC announced (to the surprise of many) he would retry Henry Keogh for murder in about a year’s time, The Adelaide Advertiser published the … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy and Justice | 1 Comment

Henry Keogh retrial high bar to jump?

Writing in The ACT Bar Association Bar Bulletin, April/May 2015 edition*, Civil Liberties Australia’s Bill Rowlings explores decisions by various State DPPs, including South Australia’s Adam Kimber, who has announced a retrial of Henry Keogh for a murder which has been … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy and Justice | Leave a comment