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Showing posts from February, 2023

Translation

What Governments can do about Online Racism (Reprinted with Kind Permission from The Conversation)

Today is eSafety Day so it seems like the perfect day to post it. Although this article is specifically about Australia, other countries such as the USA have not ratified Article 4(a)  of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination either, and there is ample information about how other places such as New Zealand and the European Union are meeting this challenge.  6 actions Australia’s government can take right now to target online racism Paul Fletcher, Australia’s recently appointed minister for communications, cyber safety and the arts, says he wants to make the internet safe for everyone. Markus Spiske / unsplash , CC BY Andrew Jakubowicz , University of Technology Sydney Paul Fletcher was recently appointed as Australia’s Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts. One of his stated priorities is to: continue the Morrison Government’s work to make the internet a s...

The Reinvention of the Mall

  Lifestyle centers: reinvented communities or dressed-up shopping malls? Jeff Hardwick , George Mason University Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose’s Santana Row covers 42 acres. Its dense, high-end retailing, residences, restaurants and offices create a city-within-a-city. The architecture – with urban row houses finished with earth tones and pastel stucco – overtly evokes Old Europe, and developers brought in antique metalwork, pottery and stone fountains to further instill a sense of history (one store even imported the façade of a nineteenth-century building from France). Meet the shopping mall’s hipper, New Urbanist cousin: the “lifestyle center.” The form is becoming more and more popular among developers and shoppers. But while lifestyle centers are promoted as a 21st century, community-oriented alternative to the soulless shopping mall, their purported Main Street “authenticity” is perhaps a new style of retail façade. A mall or not? Lifesty...

Ending Racism

    Although I’ll be talking about racism specifically in the Australian context, racism certainly exists in other countries too. During my stay in South Korea for example, some of my gorgeous students were so concerned about my curly hair, that they pooled their money and arranged for it to be straightened. It is also no accident that sales of whitening cream are among the most popular cosmetic products in Asian countries, along with procedures to Westernise eyelids.  Similarly, India has its caste system which involves discrimination on the basis of race, skin colour or other hereditary attributes. Then there is the USA. Although desegregation began in the 1950s, recent behaviour by police and others, particularly with respect to Black Lives Matter protests, shows that it too still has a long way to go before we are all one, both within and between nations. What is racism? The Australian Human Rights Commission defines racism as follows: “Racism is the proces...

On St. Valentine's Day 2023

  Lots of Love to all those who aren’t doing so well right now Happy Valentine’s Day   -Greetings from your secret admirer