The Queen's celebration of sixty years of marriage is bound to become increasingly unusual as people marry later and as more marriages dissolve in separation and divorce, despite increasing life-spans.

We guess APEC does not top your list of interesting topics. Some people are annoyed at the disruption to life in Sydney. Most will just stay well away and enjoy the public holiday. But perhaps the following two opposing opinions will help you glimpse the great issues at stake:

Being able to freely cast your vote is not a privilege enjoyed in every part of the world. With a Federal election on the way, Australians become more aware of our ability to participate in the democratic process.

This briefing on climate change will be the last in our series for the time being. It will outline the directions that some future community discussions will take. It will also suggest a discussion that we may need to have with the most voiceless members of our community—our children.

The amount written on climate-change presents us with a difficult knowledge-problem. Some knowledge-problems are to do with too little information: some datum is missing that will unlock the puzzle. This knowledge-problem is the opposite: there is too much information, and the mystery resides in how to meaningfully stitch it together.

‘You can’t change the weather,’ we all used to say with a shrug, to make the point that some actions are well beyond the powers of puny humans. But a disagreement has opened up among U.S. evangelicals about the extent to which we can, or cannot, change the weather.

As we head into the final days before the proposed cloning bill is due to be voted on in Parliament, events are being held around the nation to help people gain a better understanding of the complex issues involved and the implications of various aspects of the proposed bill.

In the past fortnight two private members bills have been presented to the Federal parliament, paving the way for experimentation on embryos. These Bills open the way for the creation of cloned human embryos, allow for the creation of embryos with more than two genetic parents, and even permit the creation of human-animal embryos (hybrids).

We’ve been spending some time trying to understand the recent events in Lebanon. We are certainly not experts on the Middle East; and like most situations of warfare, this one is shrouded in complexities that will only become clearer when hostilities have ceased. Nevertheless we thought it might be helpful to gather the facts as others have reported them, and then to offer a Christian evaluation.

Premier Bob Carr’s decision not to support the extension of vilification laws to religion is to be commended as good thinking by a wise leader. His argumentation shows why such laws are unnecessary and counter-productive.

The main purpose of this briefing is to bring to your attention a new Private Members Bill, which may result in a more just and compassionate treatment of each immigration detainee. The briefing will also summarise some other recent news in relation to immigration detention.

Our culture rewards attractiveness over plainness, and rates fashion and body image over most things, which leaves the Christian in a difficult position.

Journalist Malcolm Gladwell recently carried out a survey on about half of the CEOs of U.S. Fortune 500 companies. He found that the average CEO is about three inches taller than the average American man – who stands 5 foot nine. In addition, 30 per cent of the CEOs are at least 6 foot 2; the corresponding percentage for American adult men overall is only 3.9 per cent.

In a society that views the autonomy of the individual as sacrosanct and defining, we view all challenges to that autonomy as a threat. In addition, we live in a consumer culture, which tells us that we deserve to have whatever it is we want.

Amir Mesrinejad is from Iran. He is currently being held in Villawood IDC, where he has been for over 4 years. Since being in detention, Amir has become a Christian, but he may soon be deported.