

In the modern age, it seems the more important the issue the less debate about it is allowed. Climate change set the precedent which has now been followed by COVID. But there are many other topics too on which discussion is circumscribed, if not forbidden outright.
I was thinking about this on Friday last week as the news emerged that a series of complaints had been made against Nick Coatsworth, the former federal deputy chief health officer. According to The Australian Financial Review, 24 academics complained to Coatsworth's employer, the Australian National University, that in a series of newspaper articles he had been 'discourteous' of his fellow academics and so had breached the university's code of conduct. Yes - you read that right. Apparently, he'd been 'discourteous'.
And if you're trying to remember whether Dr Peter Ridd's apparent 'discourtesy' was one of the grounds on which he was sacked by James Cook University the answer is yes, it was. (Given it's been three and a half months since the hearing of Peter's case in the High Court we should have a decision any day now.)
This is what you do now if you work at a university in Australia and you want to shut someone up. You don't debate them or interrogate their data (to this day James Cook University has still not investigated Peter's original claim that some of the specific evidence used to justify claims that the Great Barrier Reef 'was dying' shows nothing of the sort) - no - you simply claim they were 'discourteous'.
So what did Coatsworth say that upset his colleagues? In May this year, in The Sydney Morning Herald he said this, for example, about the medical profession and health academics:
(nb, this is a long missive. I will place it all in comments)
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle...
David Daniel Ball calls himself the Conservative Voice.
I'm a teacher with three decades experience teaching math to high school kids.I also work with first graders and kids in between first grade and high school. I know the legends of why Hypatia's dad is remembered through his contribution to Math theory. And I know the legend of why followers of Godel had thought he had disproved God's existence.
I'm not a preacher, but I am a Christian who has written over 28 books all of which include some reference to my faith. Twelve blog books on world history and current affairs, detailing world events , births and marriages on each day of the year, organised by month. Twelve books on the background to and history of Bible Quotes. One Bible quote per day for a year. An intro to a science fiction series I'm planning, post apocalyptic cyber punk. An autobiography with short story collections.
I'm known in Australia for my failure as a whistleblower over the negligence death of a school boy. ...
Remember Patrick Henry's words: "Give me liberty or give me death." Don't let illusions of impossibility silence you—act today to ensure free speech endures for tomorrow. What's one step you'll take right now?
Free speech has been challenged before. In the US, World War I and World War II imposed wartime restrictions. The prolonged nature of the Vietnam War made such restrictions obvious, as did the war in Afghanistan. However, the failure of the press to remain free has led to remarkable academic debate. It is now claimed—and widely accepted—that free speech is illusory and not truly possible. Minor restrictions on style are said to mean that speech was never free. This view is Orwellian. What happened?
In antiquity, was there free speech in Athens when Socrates was ordered to leave? He drank poison rather than accept exile, but he had had his say. When Athens defeated Persia at sea, scuttling an invasion plan, the successful generals were ...
How has meditating on God's precepts brought new life to your spirit today?
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What exactly have the Palestinians done to demonstrate they’re ready for a state?
Some observations:
📷 There are still 50 hostages in Gaza
📷 They refuse every ceasefire proposal
📷 The Palestinian Authority hasn’t held elections since 2006
📷 Corruption is rampant
📷 Children are taught to glorify terrorism
📷 There’s no accountability, no rule of law, and no democratic institutions
So tell us, Emmanuel Macron: what part of this looks like a state-in-waiting?