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The dignity of people behind bars should never be negotiable by Ruth Barson Topic:  The dignity of people behind bars should never be negotiable Writter:  Ruth Barson Publish Date:  Sunday,  17 December 2017 Published on :  The AGE News The dignity of people behind bars should never be negotiable  "No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones." So said Nelson Mandela after spending close to three decades of his life imprisoned. December 17 marks two years since the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Nelson Mandela Rules, the minimum standards for how we should treat people behind bars. And so it is fitting that today we judge our nation through Mandela's eyes – how we choose to treat the men, women and children who are locked away in prisons across Australia. SHARE SHARE ON FACEBOOK   SHARE ...

Scroogeonomics: the Christmas gift that keeps on giving by Jessica Irvine Topic:  Scroogeonomics: the Christmas gift that keeps on giving Writter:  Jessica Irvine Publish Date:  Sunday,  17 December 2017 Published on :  The AGE News Scroogeonomics: the Christmas gift that keeps on giving For many years, my mother has sought to persuade the rest of our family to move to a Kris Kringle model of gift giving at Christmas. And for many years, I staunchly resisted the idea, determined, instead, to see our Christmas morning littered with a proliferation of cheap socks, jocks and books. SHARE SHARE ON FACEBOOK   SHARE SHARE ON TWITTER   TWEET LINK Illustration: Jim Pavlidis  This year, I have capitulated. Instead of buying a multitude of modest gifts, this year I have only had to buy one present with a more sizeable – but hardly exorbitant – price tag of $50. SHARE SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER LINK Joshua Millburn...

Next Monday, have a cold, hard look at what really matters by Amanda Vanstone Topic:  Next Monday, have a cold, hard look at what really matters Writter:  Amanda Vanstone Publish Date:  Sunday,  17 December 2017 Published on :  The AGE News Next Monday, have a cold, hard look at what really matters This time next week we will all be doing whatever we do on Christmas Day. For many it's a hectic round of family visits. For a diminishing number it will start with a church service, either on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning. For some it's the loneliest day of the year. The ABS tells us the proportion of us identifying with Christianity is falling and that certainly fits with my day-to-day experience of Australians. The theological underpinnings of Christmas are no longer relevant to so many of us. The churches have only themselves to blame for that. The arguments as to which strand of Christianity is the best, for want of a better descr...