The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove

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The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove episodes

July 02, 2019 Episode 209 – Iran, China, the Morrison Theocracy and Falou 101
A planned brief discussion over Iran morphed into a heated discussion over Iran and China and nuclear weapons. We then get back on track with discussions over the budding Morrison Theocracy, Tax, Christopher Pyne, Accounting firms, Falou and Deep Throat.
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1 hr 42 min
June 25, 2019 Episode 208 – Loriana Luccioni and Universal Basic Income
In this episode, we talk to Loriana Luccioni about Universal Basic Income.

Loriana Luccioni is a PhD student at the University of Queensland. After completing degrees in Psychology and Sociology, Loriana has graduated with a Master of Science in European and Comparative Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, with her dissertation winning the Titmuss Prize. Following a brief collaboration as an independent postgraduate researcher with the Policy Innovation Hub at Griffith University, she is now investigating the Cultural and Political feasibility for the introduction of a UBI in Australia.
From Loriana – In a nutshell, my view on UBI is one of sceptical supporter. In other words, although I strongly believe in the potential of UBI to propel radical social change, I also believe that it must be preceded and accompanied by an equally radical change in public discourse. In order for a UBI to produce radical changes, we need to open up the public dialogue and start to ask questions that will help re-build a civic sense of the ‘common-good’, of community, of social solidarity. We need to start questioning what do we mean by ‘work’, ponder on the many other human activities that can equally confer a sense of meaning and identity (with or without the monetary incentive attached to it). We need to redefine what the economy is, and for whom it should work; redefine measures of well being beyond the ‘growth’ mantra of GDP. And much more. I see UBI as a stepping stone, not a silver-bullet solution.
Loriana’s Article on welfare reforms

… it will be argued that only by looking at how human societies construct their own role, meaning, nature and priorities through language, it is possible to grasp the deep causes of social change … too little attention has been paid to the changes in discourses about human needs … the main point is that the way human needs are interpreted and constructed affects the way societies organize themselves. Social policy, in particular, is highly informed by implicit or explicit interpretation of human needs. … As long as the discursive construction of human needs in welfare reform proposals is overlooked,it will not be possible to truly understand and challenge the status quo. Convincing alternatives cannot be proposed if the core presupposition about what being a human being entails, are not accurately deconstructed … The extent, to which a view of human being is culturally rooted to mean ‘economic actor’ or ‘vulnerable creature’, differentiates the papers in exam … Once a particular discourse becomes normalised, built into conventions and norms, the actors involved cease to question and challenge … The neo-liberal orthodoxy translates in policies assumptions about social relations that are primarily in the service of economic functioning rather than a search to satisfy human needs … the human subject is constructed as a striving individual whose unique wants and preferences can be met only through selling his/her labour as a commodity. … Aristotle observed 2,500 years ago: ‘wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking, for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else’ (UNDP, 2004; p. 127), this understanding of human wellbeing as the end should be revived (Panic, 2007), and can only be revived by starting to re-construct, primarily through language, a different human being, whose needs can be primarily met socially, whose responsibilities are shared …

1 hr 22 min
June 25, 2019 Episode 208 – Loriana Luccioni and Universal Basic Income
In this episode, we talk to Loriana Luccioni about Universal Basic Income.
Loriana Luccioni is a PhD student at the University of Queensland. After completing degrees in Psychology and Sociology, Loriana has graduated with a Master of Science in European and Comparative Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science,
…
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1 hr 24 min
June 18, 2019 Episode 207 – More Free Speech and Ethical Conundrums
Somehow we combine The Lord’s Prayer, Iran, New Zealand, Assange, Chelsea, Setka, Sinatra, Falou, De Belin, Mr Anderson, Gas Royalties and Workplace Fingerprinting into another compelling episode.
1:49 Led not into temptation: The Pope approves a change to the Lord’s Prayer
Now Pope Francis has risked the wrath of traditionalists by approving a change to the wording of the Lord’s Prayer. Instead of saying “lead us not into temptation”, it will say “do not let us fall into temptation”.
The new wording was approved by the general assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Italy last month. It will appear in the third edition of the Messale Romano, the liturgical book that contains the guiding texts for mass in the Roman Catholic church.
The pope said in 2017 he believed the wording should be altered.
“It is not a good translation because it speaks of a God who induces temptation,” he told Italian TV. “I am the one who falls. It’s not him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen.
“A father doesn’t do that; a father helps you to get up immediately. It’s Satan who leads us into temptation – that’s his department.”
Our podcast prayer
4:22 Has Iran attacked a Japanese oil tanker?
War with Iran over possibly bullshit bombing claims.

Sounds like Iraq all over again. Sounds like babies in Kuwait hospital or weapons of mass destruction or the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

The Gulf of Tonkin incident also known as the USS Maddox incident was an international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War. It involved either one or two separate confrontations between North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. In 2005, an internal National Security Agency historical study was declassified; it concluded that Maddox had engaged the North Vietnamese Navy on August 2, but that there were no North Vietnamese naval vessels present during the incident of August 4. The report stated, regarding the first incident on August 2:
at 1500G, Captain Herrick ordered Ogier’s gun crews to open fire if the boats approached within ten thousand yards (9,150 m). At about 1505G, Maddox fired three rounds to warn off the communist [North Vietnamese] boats. This initial action was never reported by the Johnson administration, which insisted that the Vietnamese boats fired first

The outcome of these two incidents was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by “communist aggression”. The resolution served as Johnson’s legal justification for deploying U.S. conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.

10:00 New Zealand man who shared Christchurch massacre video sentenced to 21 months in jail
A New Zealand man has been
1 hr 11 min
June 18, 2019 Episode 207 – More Free Speech and Ethical Conundrums
Somehow we combine The Lord’s Prayer, Iran, New Zealand, Assange, Chelsea, Setka, Sinatra, Falou, De Belin, Mr Anderson, Gas Royalties and Workplace Fingerprinting into another compelling episode.
1:49 Led not into temptation: The Pope approves a change to the Lord’s Prayer
Now Pope Francis has risked the wrath of traditionalists by approving a change to the wording of the Lord’s Prayer.
…
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The post Episode 207 – More Free Speech and Ethical Conundrums appeared first on The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
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Website
1 hr 13 min
June 11, 2019 Episode 206 – Religion in Qld Schools and 1984 in 2019
Everything you need to know about religion in Queensland schools plus Orwellian AFP raids.
Alison Courtice from Queensland Parents for Secular State Schools
We last spoke to Alison on episode 104 on the 13th of July 2017.
Alison gave us a great explanation of the latest news and developments regarding religious instruction in Qld state schools?
Alison has initiated a petition basically calling for RI to be replaced with an academic study of religions.
What is involved in starting a petition and what effect do they have? How many signatures do you need to have an influence?
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Join our Sunday drinks session.
59:08 Selective Schools
Gladys Berejiklian’s decision to establish a new selective school in Sydney’s south-west has set new precedents. Few people seem to support it, even fewer will benefit.
For premiers and anyone else who needs to be reminded, which students who walk in through the school gate each day really matters. Schools which select students end up with those who are more advantaged. Such schools accumulate the social, cultural and even financial capital of the students and their supportive and resourceful parents.
Schools which enrol an increasing proportion of disadvantaged students gradually lose the resource of higher-performers and role models … Apparently all by herself, Gladys Berejiklian has decided to turn an existing disadvantage for so many young people into an ongoing disaster.
A stark contrast’: the ethnic divides across Sydney’s schools.
Wealthy migrant and Anglo families are “self-segregating” when they choose schools, with migrants shunning private schools in favour of the selective system and Anglo families doing the opposite, a leading researcher says.
These decisions were indicative of a wider problem across Sydney, with many schools more ethnically divided than the suburbs in which they were located, said University of Technology social scientist Christina Ho.
In NSW, 83 per cent of students in fully selective schools came from language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE), while more than half of the 99 schools with fewer than 10 per cent LBOTE students were private and in wealthy areas.
The trend was concerning because schools had a vital role to play in developing inter-cultural understanding in the community, Dr Ho said. “The increasing diversity of our communities is not reflected in our education system.”
1:10:19 George Orwell’s prescient novel 1984 is turning 70 and only growing more relevant with age
The AFP raids.
First to recount:
News Corp political editor Annika Smethurst had her home raided by the AFP over a 2018 story about the possibility of the ultra-secretive Australian Signals Directorate gaining powers to monitor Australian citizens.
The ABC had their offices raided over a 2017 story on the alleged problematic behaviour of some Australian SAS soldiers in Afghanistan.
Both stories were based on leaked documents. Any difference to Julian Assange?
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s initial reaction was arrogant. Asked if he was bothered by the look of police raiding journalists homes, he replied: “It never troubles me that our laws are being upheld”.
1 hr 37 min
June 11, 2019 Episode 206 – Religion in Qld Schools and 1984 in 2019
Everything you need to know about religion in Queensland schools plus Orwellian AFP raids.
Alison Courtice from Queensland Parents for Secular State Schools
We last spoke to Alison on episode 104 on the 13th of July 2017.
Alison gave us a great explanation of the latest news and developments regarding religious instruction in Qld state schools?
…
Read more ›
The post Episode 206 – Religion in Qld Schools and 1984 in 2019 appeared first on The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
Mentioned in this episode:
Website
1 hr 39 min
June 04, 2019 Episode 205 – Peter Monk from the NSL
Lots of secular and religious news in this episode.
2:27 The National Secular Lobby
We start off by interviewing Peter Monk, the president of the National Secular Lobby.
31:59 Metcalfe’s Law
The secular community needs to apply Metcalfe’s Law.
Metcalfe’s law states the effect of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system (n2).
The law has often been illustrated using the example of fax machines: a single fax machine is useless, but the value of every fax machine increases with the total number of fax machines in the network, because the total number of people with whom each user may send and receive documents increases. Likewise, in social networks, the greater number of users with the service, the more valuable the service becomes to the community.

35:19 This Labor Opposition Could Roll Over on Religious Privilege

From The Australian:
Anthony Albanese is under pressure from frontbench Labor MPs to “work constructively” with Scott Morrison to pass religious freedom legislation that enshrines the right of schools and charities to teach faith-based ideology, including the traditional view of marriage.

Senior Labor MPs yesterday warned that the swing against the party in faith-based communities — mainly in western Sydney seats — had galvanised support in the new Opposition Leader’s party room for new laws to protect religious institutions from being accused of discrimination.
Senator Keneally, Labor’s new deputy leader in the upper house, savaged Labor’s campaign as being “tone deaf” to the concerns of religious people. “We lost them on the more traditional, touchstone culture and social issues,” Senator Keneally said. “I think it is because we were tone deaf. If you take the issue of religious freedom, I see a growing concern of people of faith that in this Twitter world, the instant response world we live in, that they are going to be ganged up upon.
Mr Bowen told The Weekend Australian that anxieties within religious communities had contributed to Labor’s election loss. The former Treasury spokesman … urged the Prime Minister to bring forward legislation on religious freedoms quickly so it could be considered by Labor. “The Labor Party has a strong tradition of people who are socially conservative but economically progressive and we have got to make sure that tradition continues to be represented both in our party and our voters,” Mr Bowen said.
Victorian Labor MP Anthony Byrne, a social conservative, said the party was creating the perception that it did not welcome people of faith. “We are creating a perception that for people of Christian and other faiths that the Labor Party doesn’t have a place for them on the table, doesn’t want to hear their views, doesn’t want to take their beliefs into account,” Mr Byrne said.
39:56 The Sunday Mail
Page 1 – Shesus! Catholic schools are going gender neutral. More on page 7
Page 11 – An article regarding the upcoming Religious Discrimination Act
Page 17 – Falou. He nearly backed down. Historically he went from Mormon to Hillsong to Daddy’s church. Also, Eric Abetz says ” “The vast bulk of people in Australia just get that it is completely unacc...
1 hr 42 min
June 04, 2019 Episode 205 – Peter Monk from the NSL
Lots of secular and religious news in this episode.
2:27 The National Secular Lobby
We start off by interviewing Peter Monk, the president of the National Secular Lobby.
31:59 Metcalfe’s Law
The secular community needs to apply Metcalfe’s Law.
…
Read more ›
The post Episode 205 – Peter Monk from the NSL appeared first on The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
Mentioned in this episode:
Website
1 hr 45 min
May 28, 2019 Episode 204 – Secularism, Coal Mines and Death by Capitalism
Secularism, Coal Mines and Death by Capitalism.
2:45 Three Cheers for the NSL
NSL Ambassadors and executive met with the ABC Managing Director David Anderson, and Editorial Director Craig McMurtrie, to discuss the need for a “secular voice.”

Jane Caro, who was part of the delegation to meet with the ABC MD, said discussions were “extremely productive” and highly relevant, following the federal election on 18th May.
She said that for too long “the religious viewpoint on social issues – like abortion, gay marriage and assisted dying – had been paramount,” and the more popular non-religious view had been silenced.
“The media has not fully recognised the public majority are secular – with 78% support for the separation of Church and State. Yet the loudest media voice comes from religious leaders and lobbyists.”
NSL has quoted numerous examples of religious imbalance – the most obvious being a Q&A TV program on the “Separation of Church and State” where all six panellists were Christian. Not one speaker was secular!
Meeting with David Anderson, the NSL delegation delivered a proposal to help balance the ABC’s stable of nine religious and spiritual programs, suggesting that just one should focus on the popular “secular viewpoint.”
Ms Caro said, “we understand that religious programming is a part of the ABC’s charter – and naturally, religious people want their programs – but there is an equal need for the majority secular perspective.”
By “secular”, she explained, the focus is not simply on “the separation of Church and State”, but also having “Freedom FROM Religion” – to publicly question the influence of religion on a raft of issues in politics, education, health and the law.
“The topics are endless. Religions either push to repeal laws like abortion and same-sex marriage; or they lobby for more exemptions to discriminate against others, or to increase privileges, grants, and tax breaks.”
Jane Caro said that NSL’s proposal for a “30-minute monthly program on Radio National” was rejected, but Mr Anderson asked for a list of “secular commentators” who could be called on for any ABC program.
“NSL has forwarded to the Managing Director an extensive list of highly credentialed people, all with media experience, and with specific areas of secular expertise to balance the dominant religious position.”
“We trust the ABC will circulate this NSL list to program managers and producers, to provide them with the details of qualified people who are able to speak for Australia’s secular majority.”
10:06 Labor urged to include people of faith

Many Australians of faith believe Labor does not care about them and the party must address the sentiment urgently, frontbencher Chris Bowen believes.

Mr Bowen has highlighted the perceptions of Labor among religious people while bowing out of the race for the party’s leadership, saying it had been part of his motivation for running.

“I have noticed as I have been around during the election campaign and even in the days since … how often it has been raised with me that people of faith no longer feel that progressive politics cares about them,” he told reporters in Sydney.

1 hr 38 min