is genetic manipulation democratic?...

Well this where there is confusion; The answer to genetic engineering is quite clear: NO... Not at this point in time... Though it depends on who and what we include in our "democracy"... Has nature got a vote?...

So far not a single country has had the courage to get their voters to adjudicate on the "genetic engineering" vexing issue...

Forget the Prince Harry photos. Forget Julian Assange's balcony address from the Ecuadorian embassy. The best thing published this week, by a country mile, is the transcript of Julia Gillard's exit interview from the law firm Slater & Gordon, conducted 17 years ago and printed on Wednesday by The Australian.

My, how they do love a saucy scandal or a sinister conspiracy theory out there on the lunar right. The first I ever heard came from one Russ Hinze, a large and repellent oaf who was Joh Bjelke-Petersen's minister for roads and police in Queensland.

Open Letter To Senators Brandis And Abetz

Tensions within the world's most powerful media family were dramatically laid bare last night when Elisabeth Murdoch set out her own vision of media leadership, emphasising humanity over profit and criticising her father's News Corporation for operating with an absence of values.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has failed in an attempt to sell a block of Fairfax Media shares after the company reported a record annual loss.

It emerged after the market closed that Mrs Rinehart was trying to sell about one third of her 15 per cent stake in the struggling media company.

The Opposition says Prime Minister Julia Gillard still needs to answer questions about her time as a lawyer in the 1990s - but will not say what those questions are.

from Crikey ….