RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Friday, November 3, 2023

Good morning ,

Let's see how the NSW Labor govt responds to our nomination of someone to represent the nearly one third of citizens whose worldview is not religious on their new Faith Affairs Council. Steve Marton is president of Sydney Atheists and a secular Jew. 

The Secular Conference is coming up fast (2 December) and after that, I'm heading over to Massachusetts and Maine for a month. Can anyone recommend the brand of a suitable winter coat I should buy? [Bearing in mind that I could always use it in Melbourne's spring too!]

Lead stories

Steve Marton, a secular Jew, has been nominated for the NSW Faith Affairs Council, on the basis that he would represent the one third of NSW citizens who are non-religious. Given their track record thus far, I wouldn't be holding my breath.

Your Letters

I invite readers of RSA Daily to write to me with their thoughts about the articles I include each day. Gratifyingly, you do! Here's what you've written recently - about Israel, about secular humanism, about the last RSA webinar with Ben Jones on referenda, about the Voice, about circumcision. 

And in Letters to the Editor of The Age, readers are not impressed with Tony Abbott's TLAs: "Tony Abbott and the 'cult' of climate science".

A 6-year-old Chinese girl sets a new Rubik's Cube record - solved in under 6 seconds!

Other stories of interest

Is nuclear the answer to Australia's climate crisis?

According to this writer, no - mainly because of cost. But he does concede that Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) may be necessary and competitive in countries with poor renewable energy sources.

Regulating political misinformation isn't easy, but it's necessary to protect democracy

"Relying solely on the media, the public and rival political candidates to correct false statements is like expecting rain to extinguish a bush fire without any intervention from emergency services."

Treasurer Jim Chalmers pumps up his role in energy transition

And in case you missed it (I had), Chalmers has appointed the former head of the Grattan Institute, Danielle Woods, as chair of the Productivity Commission .. and has charged her with working out how to achieve Australia's transition to renewables.

MAGA and Christian nationalism: Bigger threat to America than Hamas could ever be

From Salon magazine: "The world inches closer to a war that only psychopaths want to see .. the House of Representatives, now run by Johnson, offers a discount version of the apocalyptic orgasm the holy rollers have dreamed of for years .. they’ve renewed the Inquisition and seem determined to convert the U.S. into a theocracy run by people who will thump you with the Bible, but haven’t read much of it."

Got a comment on any of these stories? 

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

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