Citizenship, Identity & Passport

Citizenship, Identity

&

Passport

In the next few weeks, possibly a month, Australia is likely to follow Britain lead by introducing legislations cancelling passports and the citizenship of individuals who had left to join ISIS (Islamic State Iraq & Syria).

Like their British counterparts, those individuals whose names are known to the Australian authorities would, when checking to depart from Istanbul or other airports, discover that their Australian passport had been cancelled.  

Officially they are no longer Australian citizens.  

Does that mean that Australia had abandoned those individuals? And if so, what are the legal and other consequences of such purported abandonment?

 In short, such Legislation pose the potential for a legal nightmare both domestically and internationally. What would, or should, Turkey do with an individual at Istanbul or Ankara International Airport with a valid ticket and booking who finds his passport cancelled?  For that matter, what should France do with a British jihadist returning to Britain through France that finds his British passport had been cancelled?  

What does Turkey (in the case of Australian jihadist) or France (in the case of British jihadist) do with this now stateless individual?  Are Turkey or France bound by international obligations towards those purported jihadist?  

The chances are, whilst their passport were valid the Australian jihadist flew to Turkey and departed to Syria through the Turkish/Syrian border.  Likewise, the chances are the British jihadist departed to France and from France flew to Turkey and entered Syria through Syrian/Turkish border. In other words the Customs Record of both France and Turkey would show these two jihadists had valid passports in which they legally entered the country. Why should either Turkey or France be burdened by domestic politics of Australia and Britain?  Needless to say at this stage, before Australia proceeds with drafting the anticipated legislation, that is likely to receive bipartisan support, it is worth noting that the ‘constitutionality’ of the British legislation had not yet been legally challenged.  Would the British legislation withstand legal challenge based on Britain international legal obligations and human rights both of which are enshrined in the British Constitution as well as International Treaties?  

In Australia’s case, it is worthwhile, and indeed highly advisable, for Attorney-General, George Brandis, (and, since the anticipated legislation is likely to receive bi-partisan support, shadow Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus) to remember that Part V of the Australian Constitution, more specifically Section 51(xxix), whilst giving Parliament the right to legislate on matters to do with foreign affairs is by no means a blank power.  Any anticipated legislation the effect of which is to deprive Australian citizen of his or her passport and make that individual stateless, effectively non-existent, must be able to pass the ‘international guidelines’ and relevant guidelines of United Nations to do with human rights.  Whilst Australia had thus far weathered the plethora of international criticisms to do with its treatment of the relatively miniscule number of boat refugees, it is highly unlikely it would be able to weather criticisms whereby Australian citizens are denied their human rights.  Needless to say the proposed legislation surviving properly prepared and argued is Constitutional challenge for the High Court of Australia.

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Spikenard: What is it and where you may have heard about it?

Spikenard

What is it and where you may have heard about it?

It will probably be of not much help if I were to tell you it belongs to the Genus species Nardostachys Jatamonsi and it is used in Catholic iconography to represent Saint Joseph and is indeed pictured on the Coat of Aram worn by current Pope Francis.  As you may have already gathered it is expensive spiced oil that is connected to both Judaism and Christianity and, to lesser extent, Islam.  Spikenard grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India at altitudes of between 3,000 to 5,000 meters.  It got its name from the spike like shape of the root and spiny stem of the herb plant.  The Greeks and the Romans loved the smell and willingly paid the expense involved in shipping it long distance from the Himalayan Mountains through India in sealed alabaster boxes, costly containers that were open only on special occasions.  The cost of the perfume was three hundred denarii at a time when a worker wage for a day was one denarii.  

In other words, a vial of Spikenard would cost almost a year wage. 

Religious Significance of Spikenard  

Proverbs 27:9 states: “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel”.  

Matthew 26:6-13 states: “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment and pour it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.  When Jesus understood it he said unto them: Why trouble ye the woman? For she had wrought good work upon me. For ye hath the poor always with you but me you ye have not always. For in that she had poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.  Verily I say to you wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her”.

John 12:3 states: “Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with odour of the ointment”.

One should note that contrary to the other three Gospels, only the gospel of John names the woman as Mary.  This act by a woman made all twelve disciples livid and may have indeed being a significant factor in Judas reason for betraying Jesus at the Last Supper.   The literal meaning of the word “Messiah” is “Anointed One” in first century Judaism any and all references to the “Anointed One” is reference to the King of the Jews whom God would raise at the end of times.

It is worthwhile noting that a newly born baby is capable of detecting and identifying some ten thousand different scents and that the receptors that receptors that allow that detection to take place are much more sophisticated than those of vision and hearing. In fact the first of the twelve cranial nerves is the olfactory nerve which directly connects to the brain compared to the optic nerve, and the auditory branch of the trigeminal nerve.

It is also worthwhile noting the significance of smell as a survival factor in Darwinian evolutionary sense viz:

Smell is the principle factor that a sperm makes its way towards an egg and at the same noting that in the process sperms are competing with each other and the fastest sperm is the successful one.  Smell is the principal factor a newly born finds its mother nipple.  Likewise smell is the principle reason how a mother that has just given birth finds her newly born from other newly born in a hospital maternity ward.  Needless to say smell is equals to if not greater factor in dating between the sexes and it is no wonder that the multi billion dollars perfume industry is in constant search for the equivalent to and perhaps the ultimate Spikenard.

In Part II of this Spikenard Blog I will discuss the aromas that are now used in alters of synagogues and churches and the significance of incense and other offerings prior to and during mass.  I will also discuss the significance of smell in tribal cultures in fending off evil spirits.

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Nexus of Spelling to Income In Various Professions

Nexus of Spelling to Income

In

Various Professions

Is there statistically valid connection between good spellers and earnings in any profession?  In general, I would say YES.  Why? Because it stands to reason that a person who takes the trouble of ensuring that the application that he or she makes in applying for a job is grammatically correct and without any spelling errors is not only diligent, intelligent, observant, expressive and serious, but also respectful to his or her potential employer. Having said that, one should also add, that good spellers are more likely to be shortlisted for a job interview than less competent spellers whose applications contains spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors.  

The greater the spelling errors, the less likely that person to be shortlisted.

If he or she is shortlisted and hired, the position a bad speller is likely to fill would generally involve lesser responsibility than a significantly better speller in most cases. It therefore more probable that a good speller would earn a statistically significant greater income.  

Whilst as a rule of thumb that observation is generally correct, spelling is not necessarily a crucial indicator of earning in a great number of industries where commonsense, foresight, intuition, agility, dexterity and fitness are either the required characteristics, or the preferable characteristic ahead of spelling.  

Grammarly’s Statistical Survey

http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2014/writing-skills-matter-infographic/ 

Before analyzing the statistical significance of the review conducted by Grammarly on 448 freelance professionals, one should take note and be aware that all ‘Word Programs’ on which a professional freelancer likely to complete his or her application do have number of features that allows a bad speller to present his or her articles devoid of spelling and grammatical errors.  These include amongst other features a ‘Spelling Check’.  Furthermore, the internet provides prolific number of ‘ideal samples’ format applications for practically all jobs, including the seven subject to Grammarly’ study namely:

Administrative Support, legal, Design & Multimedia, Engineering & Manufacturing, Sales & Marketing, Finance & Management, IT & Programming.  

Whilst the total sample number, 448, is arguably statistically valid, that validity is somewhat questionable as it does not only give the specific sample number for each of the seven job categories - it only provides comparative earnings figures for four of the seven job categories subject to the survey.  These four job categories are:  Engineering & Manufacturing, Legal, Sales & Marketing, and Finance & Management.  Whilst the study shows that applicants with the least spelling errors were the top earners in all four job categories, the relationship between ‘second best spellers’ is non linear in the Legal Profession, and Engineering & Manufacturing where employees whose spelling errors in the range of 21-30 per hundred words on average earn more than those whose spelling errors are in the range of 11-20 per hundred words.  Needless to say that linearity of better spellers earning more than bad or less/ better spellers holds true in Finance & Management, and Sales and Marketing.  

What is one to make of the relationship between the correlation of good spelling and earning in the professions of Design & Multimedia and IT & Programming?  At first glance it would appear, given the tasks involved in good performance in these two professions and good spelling does not apply and/or is statistically meaningless.  

Statistical Flaws & Pitfalls  

Sampling, randomness, size of the population, age, sex, clarity of questions asked, are variables that influence the significance of any statistical study.  Oral presentation, dress, confidence, eye contact, previous experience, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn and excel, and good references, are, in my opinion, significant factors that are of equal, if not of greater significance to good spelling as earning indicators. Also, lets not forget the support staff. Speaking as a former member of the Legal Profession, I can personally attest to having rarely typed out my own advice to clients. Using a dictaphone to record pleadings and correspondence, I entrusted my paralegal and secretary to such matters. In this scenario my support staffs' strength in grammar was a requisite, yet I was the higher earner. This can be said for many professionals with PA's and /or EA's who's job is to churn out professional reports, articles and correspondence.

Finally, whilst good spelling may have its virtues as indicator of earning in number of professions it should be remembered that the standard by which good spelling is often assessed is often by the Oxford and Webster English dictionaries.  That said, British-English spelling often differs to American-English dictionaries.  Accordingly, when one is writing an application that is likely to determine, or improve his or her chances of impressing the potential employer some research as to the background of the person or persons assessing that application may well be helpful. 

Alternatively by simply downloading the Grammarly add-on to your writing program, many of the obstacles encountered with grammar, language, punctuation and spelling can be overcome. 

 

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Death Row Inmates: Andrew Chan & Myuran Sukumaran

Death Row Inmates:

Andrew Chan

&

Myuran Sukumaran

The inspiration for this blog was the airing of last night Four Corners program about Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two Australian young men who had been convicted with 7 others of trying to smuggle a total of some 8 kilograms of heroin from Bali Indonesia to Australia some ten years ago.  Whilst the four others received hefty sentences that will see them spend the prime years of their lives behind bars, the purported leaders of the group, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, each received the death penalty by firing squad.  All avenues of legal appeal under Indonesia's legal system having being exhausted. An appeal to Indonesia's newly elected President, Joko Widodo, to spare the lives of these two contrite and reformed young men had been flatly refused.  Several rushed applications for judicial review of various legal procedures and decisions had been refused by the Attorney General thus paving the way for a black hood to be placed on the head Andrew Chan and on the head of Myuran Sukumaran and for them to be marched, possibly with others to a field where the firing squad would take aim and shoot them in cold blooded execution.  

According to official Indonesian report both Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be executed with the next patch of executions that will take place before the end of February.  

In other words both of these young men have less than 18 days left to live.

Chan & Sukumaran today

Last legal Plea

What is clear to me from last night Four Corners program is the fact that the legal defence team of both Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran may have overlooked one crucial, and to me, primary critical fact. This fact relates to the role of Australian Federal Police in the arrest.  

It appears that on the evidence Indonesian police were tipped by Australian Federal Police.  In other words there is in existence either a Formal Treaty, or a Memorandum of Understanding, or a Co-operation Agreement between Australian Law Enforcement Agencies and their Indonesian Counterpart.  

Whatever that document might be it surely must spell out either directly or indirectly in ‘diplomatic niceties’ a diplomatic solution to that currently faced in the case of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Even if the diplomatic documentation does not spell out or provide avenue for a diplomatic solution, that solution arises from the implication that unlike Indonesia, Australia does not have the death penalty on its criminal law code either Commonwealth or State.  

The clear implication to be drawn from this fact is that by tipping Indonesian Police about these lost  young men, dubbed the Bali 9, Australian Federal Police did not sanction their execution.  This must be so given the fact the drugs they were carrying were destined for the Australian market NOT the Indonesian market.  Whilst I cannot claim any familiarity with the legal argument pursued by the Australian and Indonesian legal team on behalf of Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran, and the others, I will certainly be interested to familiarize myself how such arguments – drugs destined for Australia and no death penalty under Australian Law – are dealt with, and presumably dismissed under Indonesia legal system. 

Is it the case that the Indonesian judiciary explicitly or implicitly conveying the message that the Australian Federal Police gave its Indonesian counterpart the lives of two, and possibly 9 lost Australian young men? I find that hard to fathom!             

Joko Widodo or Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono?

As previously mentioned the arrest, charge and conviction, of the Australian drug mules at Bali took place some ten years ago.  The incumbent Indonesian President was Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono NOT Joko Widodo who was officially inaugurated as President on 20 October 2014.  Whilst we do not know and are not privy as to whether in rejecting a plea to spare the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran President Joko Widodo consulted with his predecessor, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the question arises whether the final decision is that of President Widodo or Yudhoyono.  

On any view it would be of some comfort to know President Widodo's reason for rejecting the plea:  Toughness on drugs, or popularity with the masses are not, in my opinion, justification to reject the plea. This is made more so given the fact that the Indonesian Law Enforcement Agencies and the Indonesian media have in recent days highlighted a poorly conducted Australian radio survey showing that a slight majority of Australian agree with the death sentence to be dished out to Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.  This poorly conducted and unrepresentative survey should not by any mean or stretch of imagination be any comfort to any Indonesian citizen or government official as some sort of justification to put these two young men to death by the firing squad.  

The fact is that Indonesian Law Enforcement Authorities were tipped by the Australian Federal Police to arrest these drug mules.  The fact is that the drugs that they were carrying when they passed through Bali were destined to the Australian market. The fact is that the death penalty is not on Australia’s Criminal Law.  The fact is that these men admitted their guilt and on all evidence had been reformed and are begging for mercy MUST be the overriding factors in any decision.

Finally, one must remember that there are numerous International Conventions and Treaties, to some of which Indonesia is a signatory that deals compassionately with situations in which Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran find themselves.  Finally, the plea of the parents and brothers and sisters of both men must surely carry some weight, if not to spare their lives, at least to afford the opportunity of a final comprehensive case and submission that takes into consideration amongst other things facts mentioned in this blog to be made on their behalf.

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Gender and Writings

Gender and Writings

If pens could speak they would be better judges of skill of the hands that handled them and expressed the power and imagination of the grey matter through the ages.  However, over the last two decades perhaps the pens had given this honour to so-called keyboards to make that decision. Regardless whether it is the pen, or the keyboard expressing opinion on the question: ‘whether women are better writers than men’ the sad reality is that in today’s world the answer could only come, or more precisely is determined, through the ringing of the cash register in bookstores or sales through other means, mainly the electronic media, computers, kindles, iphones etc.  If, for whatever reason, the total dollar value of the sale is not the ultimate factor determining the question, it is sure to be the factor that tipped the scale.  Having said that one should be aware of the modern day fact, that the clever marketing of a book written by either a man or a woman or a hermaphrodite for that matter, especially if backed by good financial head start, could make an unknown of either gender a famous writer overnight.  Needless to say ghost writers still survive.

Attempts to shed light on the question of gender and writing by undertaking surveys asking statistically valid numbers of men and women questions on various topics does not, in my opinion, enhance the discussion or the debate.  If anything, those statistical figures obtained from such surveys creates barriers that may limit the scope and depth of the inquiry.  So the question is; how do we enlighten this inquiry and make it meaningful? 

 It is my considered opinion that a good starting point for this inquiry could commence with brief review of two books that were best sellers not that long ago. One of these books is called: ‘Men are from Mars Women are from Venus’ by John Gray the other is called: ‘You Just Don't Understand’ Women and Men in Conversation by Deborah Tannen, who had written earlier book entitled: ‘That’s Not What I Meant!’   In brief, the gist of Gray’s book is that gender relationship problems could be explained or attributable to acclimatization of each gender to its planet which imprints its own psyche. In other words evolutionary and physiological factors had fixated or played dominant role in fixating both women and men psyche.  The example that Gray’s give is complaint by men that if they offer solution to problems that their women folks brings up in conversation the women, more often than not, are more interested in talking about the problem than solving it.  Whilst in general agreement with Gray’s reasoning, Tannen put more emphasis on the fact that from childhood girls learn different approaches to language and communication which she refers to as “rapport-talk” versus “report-talk” to describe female and male social affiliation and emotional connection.   But the real question is whether either of these two learned authors and best sellers, Gray and Tannen, enlightens the debate and shed some light to the question whether women are better writers than men.  In my opinion both writers do to a limited extent by focusing attention on the way each gender treat emotion and mood and how the differences in that treatment is reflected and expressed in everyday life.  I will highlight this by thinking of a situation in which a brawl takes place in a class room or a lecture theatre.  Police comes in and takes statement from witnesses to the brawl, from class mates or fellow students.  The facts as to who commenced the brawl and who got injured are generally agreed upon but you can bet your bottom dollar statements given to the police by each gender that witnessed the same incident would be markedly different.  I can only say, thank God that in such situations a panel jury of 12 decides the guilt or innocence of the accused.

I would also make this observation to do with discipline of obstetric and gynecology.  Experienced clinicians who teach medical students and interns in this discipline always make a point of emphasis and that point is ‘always listen carefully what expectant mothers had to say, whether in normal birth deliveries and acute situations’. Point? A clear situation where women writing on the subject of pregnancy and childbirth would have distinct advantage than anything a man can write about the subject, even if the man in question is the head of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in a major hospital or medical school.   

It would be factually a fair comment to note that perhaps up until the middle of the twentieth century, as writers, women would have faced significantly greater obstacles than men.  The simple reason is that freedom from restraint and control as a social convention, and emancipation had not taken firm hold and acceptance.   At the same time it is noteworthy to mention writers like Emily Bronte’ novels: Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre; and Jane Austen novels: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion.  Perhaps it is more noteworthy to highlight recent news item that the author who wrote the blockbuster ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’, Harper Lee, in fact put aside a book that she wrote earlier entitled: ‘Go Set a Watchman’ in order to complete writing ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ and that book is now to be published and likely to be made into a film some 50 plus years after the classic film To Kill a Mocking Bird.

In summary, it is my opinion that both genders have the potential of churning out blockbusters on wide variety of subjects and life matters.  Thus far the scale is slightly tipped in favour of the male gender but the overwhelming consensus with which I agree is that the scale will soon be tipped in favour of the female gender and may stay there for long time to come.