Utopia, you are standing in it!

The recent decision of the NSW Court of Appeal in Ulman v Live Group Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 338 (20 December 2018) raises important issues about the interaction between internal disputes within a religious community, and the “secular” court system. In this case a majority held that the threat of purely religious sanctions, to be applied if a dispute was resolved in the ordinary courts rather than in a religious tribunal, amounted to contempt of court, and imposed financial penalties on members of the tribunal. Significant questions are raised as to whether religious groups are able to apply their own religious beliefs in disciplining members of their community, or whether these decisions will be over-ridden by the ordinary court system.

Remarkable growth of ice in Bering Sea has been observed over the last three weeks as shown above.  The extent went from 57k km2 to 424k km2 during that period, and is presently 94% of the maximum Bering ice extent in March 2018.  To put this event in context, note that Bering 2018 maximum was low and pulled down the overall Arctic extent in March.  For example, 2017 Bering maximum was 725k km2 compared to 2018 max of 451k km2, or a difference of 48%.  We will be watching to see how much will be added in the coming 3 months.

Note also that Chukchi north of Bering completed freezing over on day 352,  December 18, 2018.  We can also see that Okhotsk on the left was freezing at the same rate as Bering, but added no new ice in the last week.

The Bering ice recovery coincides with the…

Throughout 2018 the BBC continued to cover the topic of ‘fake news’, creating a dedicated webpage for items tagged under that topic and producing various guides to identifying fake news, including one aimed specifically at younger audiences.

“Fake news usually comes down to two things. Firstly, false news stories that aren’t true at all. They go online or are shared on social media even though the person writing them knows that they are made up. Number two: stories that may have some truth to them but the facts aren’t clear or checked properly or the writer has exaggerated some of it to mean what they want it to.” [emphasis in bold added]

This year too BBC Watch has documented numerous examples of misinformation promoted by the BBC and has submitted dozens of related complaints. Among the inaccurate claims made by the BBC to which we have managed to secure corrections in…

A bill in California’s legislature geared to ban animal testing for cosmetics is being considered in which animal rights groups are said to be supportive of the measure. South Korea and Europe have banned the use of animals for cosmetics testing and efforts on the part of animal rights groups in other countries have attempted to highlight this issue.

For example, in 2012 a woman in Great Britain subjected herself to methods allegedly used in testing animals for cosmetics. The proposed legislation is based on the assumption that animals are cruelly treated when used to test them.

However, as a Fashionista article published three years ago points out, nothing could be further from the truth. No doubt the methods groups, like PETA, allege are used on animals in cosmetics testing are not true either. As the Fashionista explains:

Contrary to some of the propaganda you see out there, most beauty…

Tucked away in the recently passed U.S. Farm Bill is a ban on cockfighting that was signed into law last week and will affect all U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and Guam. According to NPR, the Farm Bill passed last Wednesday, and has long been sought by animal rights groups like the so-called Humane Society (HSUS).

However, when news that one of Puerto Rico’s most popular pass times was to be outlawed starting next year, Puerto Ricans at first were in disbelief, but now are angry. Cockfighting is a centuries old tradition and their island territory has numerous clubs dedicated to the sport that employ hundreds of people. But the overall cockfighting industry, according to Puerto Rican officials, generates millions of dollars a year in revenue and thousands of people are employed. As a result of the ban, it will be a blow to Puerto Rico’s economy which is…