Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

June, April to June, and Year-to-Date Global Temperatures are Warmest on Record Last month’s combined global land and ocean surface temperature made it the warmest June on record and the warmest on record averaged for any April-June and January-June periods … Worldwide average land surface temperature was the warmest on record for June and the April-June period, and the second warmest on record for the year-to-date (January-June) period, behind 2007. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US)

Democracy must be a constructive working partnership between citizens and the politicians they vote to represent them. Despite the cynical attitude of many, politicians are not installed by themselves. The quality of the politician ultimately depends on the quality of the vote. It’s up to us to ensure the political candidates we vote for are good enough to represent us.

While the absorbing intricacies of the sometimes daily twists and turns of developments in Fiji, which I have chronicled closely since Easter, 2009, when any pretence to not being a fully-blown military dictatorship was removed, are fascinating, I want to here focus on how Fiji might, eventually, be returned to democratic governance. The first important point to at least try to establish is exactly what Commodore Frank is seeking to achieve in Fiji. This is trickier than might be initially expected because of the sometimes daily shifts or twists in his expressed thinking or planning.

The latest update from the Democratic Audit program at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, on how our democracy is working.

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming - reviewed by Robin McKie of The Observer.

It’s not the fear of Iranian nuclear weapons that makes the US Joint Chiefs of Staff so reluctant to get involved in a war with Iran. Those weapons don’t exist, and the whole justification for the war would be to make sure that they never do. The problem is that there’s nothing the US can do to Iran, short of nuking the place, that would really force Tehran to kneel and beg for mercy. (Gwynne Dyer)

Paul Keating: I take issue with and repudiate those who assert that privacy in modern times is dead and, that we should get over it. And with those who claim the current framework within which the media deals with privacy issues and concerns is effective and works well. It is of course, ineffective and works, in the main, to the benefit of media organisations.

Laurie Oakes: "You told Malcolm Turnbull once that you were a weathervane. Does Australia need a weathervane as a Prime Minister?"

Indeed, those sympathies of mine only reinforce just how foolish and self-defeating Israeli obstinacy has been in regard to accountability for Gaza. The diplomatic fallout has been immense, and the momentum it has given to boycott movements is something no one but Israel could have provided.

Is it possible to have prosperity that isn’t about rising income? A prosperity that would give us health and security, at the same time allowing us to participate socially with hope for the future – a life that gives us the ability to flourish as human beings on a finite planet?... We are social beings, not isolates. To be complete we need to free our imagination: our prosperity should be about caring for others – a prosperity of hope.

Well, Fat and Rude has finally done it: MALCOLM BRUCE DUNCAN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR WENTWORTH

An email from GetUp: Two days ago I wrote to you with a question: should we pursue legal action to defend Australians' right to vote? An overwhelming 86% of GetUp members voted yes - so just moments ago, GetUp filed our case for online enrolment in the Federal Court. In addition to this, we're filing a related case in the High Court of Australia challenging the constitutionality of the Howard Government's 2006 Amendments to the Electoral Act. This is the piece of legislation that led to the situation we faced early week, where people had only one business day to enrol to vote.

Taking a firm stand on one’s position with regards to their religious beliefs has, for the past generation or so, been an area where political attacks are generally considered to be a no go zone. This is a good thing. Australia has developed into a tolerant society, where people’s beliefs are respected. Why then should atheism be any different?

From the Other Side, in that great kitty litter tray in the sky, Claude comments on the 2010 Federal Election. Read on ...

Now that we have audiovisually interactive mobile phones and permanently net-connected portable computers I wonder how far away a human-implantable Facebook Chip could be. Our heads already have cameras and microphones installed, so you'd only need a thought-to-font translator, video and audio uploading equipment and a Wi-Fi transceiver. With the flip of a mental (or physical) switch, any human could interact with the social network carried in their mind.

The latest update from the Democratic Audit program at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, on how our democracy is working.

My first blog ever was a damp squib; deservedly so given the amount of effort I put into it. I've decided to give it another go for the reasons that there's a growing awareness of the subject and that next to climate change and sustainable population this is the most important issue facing us.

"Today, guided by my values, I want to share with you how I intend to move Australia forward to a stronger economy, with sustainable growth that delivers for hard-working Australians." - The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Prime Minister for Australia

Gandhi used non-violent actions to bring freedom to India. Maybe if we want to fight for a future for our grandchildren or bring equity to the children unfortunate enough to have been born in the third world we too will have to resort to non-violent action.

I invite anyone who is interested in seeing Webdiary continue to donate a piece on whatever they care to write about.

If you're younger you may not get the significance of this. This was world Internet and media history and Margo was making  it. In 2000 there were no comparable models. Not in the New York Times, not in the Washington Post and not even in that stupid bloody British rag that you wretched lefties love so much, the Guardian".- Harry Heidelberg

"Really, though, I'd lost the taste the day I was rooting around the glovebox of a car in the wreckers' yard to find out who'd had the prang.  Looking up from my endeavours I noticed one of the driver's teeth embedded in the steering wheel.  I thought to myself "so, this is journalism?" - Richard Tonkin

"There is a Homeric, epic quality about this tournament.  Mighty teams like the Spanish and the French choke at psychological moments and unheralded teams like the Koreans and Swiss take the opportunity for a moment in the sunshine perhaps anticipated for a generation"- Paul Walter

"When global leaders of any religious persuasion are delusional to the point where they believe they are doing "God’s Work", what hope is there for humanity when these fanatics have their fingers on the nuclear triggers?"- Keith Warren

We were all glad to see the back of Howard at one stage, but now the People are calling on Rudd Labor, in no uncertain terms, to unpack its alternative and fulfill its promises to Australians, rather than just slumming with those interests whos aims are contrary to the ordinary Australian.

"The enquiry will tell whether this is the case or whether there has been a monumental screw-up by BP and or the drilling contractor. One would imagine a deepwater drilling moratorium will be in place in the meantime."

Depending on which reports you believe, the number of dead killed by the Israelis numbers between eight and fourteen, and many more wounded.  The deaths have been condemned around the world  The European Union has condemned the attack, and an emergency session of the UN Security Council is now debating a response.