Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

"Have you ever sat at the deathbed of a statistical life? 'Statistical lives' are what politicians save, or let die, or kill, when they decide on resource allocations for health care. Health care is not the only area where political decisions are matters of life and death. Environmental programs to reduce air pollution, educational efforts to publicize the adverse effects of smoking, traffic measures that lower the risk of car accidents: many policies save lives - and omit other lives that would have been saved if the money had been spent otherwise." Weyma Luebbe

|| Jonathan Freedland on stopping the growth in inequality || David Boyle on private affluence and public squalor || Magnus Linklatter says nuclear energy is no answer || Nicholas Kristof on Darfur  || Murray Waas says Bush knew no Saddam-Osama link  || Christopher Hitchens and the Iraq debate || David Bell on Voltaire, Rouseau and the enlightenment  || Nigel Bowen on the politics of post-boomer generations  || Report on a bio-recovery business    ||

"The World Bank's most recent estimate is that complete trade liberalization (including in manufactures and by developing nations themselves) would produce a net gain to the developing world of half a percentage point of their income. But that hasn't stopped the Bank doing its best to hide this meager impact behind impressive-sounding claims.The fact is that the world economy is more open today than it has ever been, and will remain so even if the Doha talks collapse." Dani Rodrik

|| Alan Kohler on gold and the crunch to come || Eugene Robinson on the mess Bush is in || George Monbiot on the illegal use of White Phosphorous || Ghaith Abdul-Ahad goes inside Baghdad's hospitals || Investigation into the faulty evidence used for Iraq || Patrick Goldstein on end of mass movie going || Jack Shafer sees an ugly future for Google || Report on the affects of hypnosis on the brain || MUSIC: Sasha Frere-Jones on Damon Albarn  || The depiction of UFOs and aliens in cartoons ||

"In a recent article "PM not for turning on a Bill of Rights", the Australian's editor-at-large told us of the Prime Minister's attitude to a Bill of Rights. Presumably the author obtained his information from the Prime Minister who, he claimed, has redefined the debate. Unsurprisingly, the article is extremely laudatory of the Prime Minister. It presents him not as a conniving politician but as a philosopher statesman, effectively a home-grown, homespun Great Helmsman who personifies and articulates the values of the common man in contrast to the "lawyers, media and civil liberty activists", often scorned as the "elite", who apparently lack any understanding of or respect for ordinary people. What hypocrisy!" Tony Fitzgerald

"The actions that are needed are difficult to introduce, because they go to the heart of the world's use of energy, particularly its use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), which, when burned, release carbon dioxide - the key source of rising greenhouse gases - into the atmosphere. Yet the world economy depends on fossil fuels, and developing countries will need to use more, not less, of them as their economies grow. Even if the world runs out of oil and gas in the coming years, coal will prove to be plentiful, and solid coal can be converted at relatively low cost to liquid fuels for automobiles and other uses." Jeffrey D Sachs

|| Laura Secor on Iran and its political dissidents || Josie Appleton on romantic lefties and Latin America  || Lee Epstein & Jeffrey Segal on how courts sway judges    || Report says UK will turn to nuclear power    || Michelle Goldberg on Christmas and the culture wars    || Pegoraro on buying a new computer  || Report on the fairies and the developer    || BOOKS: Brooklyn Follies By Paul Auster  ||

"The Mitchell wing of the State Library of New South Wales is the repository of probably the richest source of early colonial history in the World. It is constantly yielding richer and richer treasures which not only augment our understanding but lead to a greater appreciation of what it is to be human. Webdiarists will imagine my delight, therefore, at being sconned in the archives by a large trunk which had been stuffed unceremoniously on top of an old case of taxidermists' delights. After I came to, I opened the offending missile and was enthralled by one of the most fascinating discoveries vouchsafed to the literary dilettante: the previously undiscovered diaries, letters and a personal historical note of one of the colony's earliest clerics and his daily observations of the people, the times and the politics of early Sydney Town." Malcolm B Duncan

|| Scott McConnell on Rupert Murdoch's Iraq war || Frank Rich  says Iraq is lost and terrorism is winning    || Greg Sheridan's love letter to Donald Rumsfeld    || Guy Rundle on the terrorism beat-up    || Mahathir bin Mohamad on Islam's failings  || Nicholas Kristof on our collective responsibility for Darfur  || David Rieff on Bolivia's leftist leader, Evo Morales  || Robin McKie on climate changes in the Himalayas || Emily Bell on newspapers and the net    || William Boyd on the tale behind Shakespeare's sonnets || Helene Cooper on appreciating Bruce || ODDITIES: What people do in coffee shops ||

"Nada's work as a Muslim activist since September 11 has, in her own words, been just "putting out one fire after another". She says many young Aussie-born Muslims are returning to their parents' and ancestors' faith as an act of defiance. Many of these people feel their heritage is being unfairly targeted, and in a true Aussie fashion are seeking to protect the underdog. Since September 11, more Muslims are feeling the heat. Comments made by certain politicians and media personalities are not helping in this regard. Nada resents the fact that only thick-Sheiks are being made accountable for their hate-speech but not certain tabloid columnists or Liberal backbenchers." Irfan Yusuf

"It pays to be wary of governments tinkering with electoral systems. We have almost no constitutional protections and hence court review of those laws. Leaving politicians in charge of the rules governing their hold on power may be akin to leaving the kids in charge of the pantry. When you seize a castle, there is the temptation to burn the ladders and raise the drawbridge to keep later rivals out." Graeme Orr

"I felt on 11 November 1975 that my value as a citizen was nil - when I had been implicitly told, when the officer at Charlestown handed me the two ballot papers on that Saturday morning in May, 1974, that my country considered me sufficiently mature and important to the community to have a say in the election of its government. ... If, as is commonly said, people don't trust politicians, it could be the fault of many politicians; but if, as is equally apparent, they don't trust the political system, nobody bears more of the blame than the late John Kerr." John Miner

|| Timothy Garton Ash on the end of freedom in the West  || Frederick Kagan on the terrorism-communism connection  || David Brooks says Israel now ignores Palestinians  || George Will slams Bush and the Republicans  || Rami Khouri on religion in the Arab world || Jonathan Chait on changing political sides  || Michael Massing on the end of news  || Report say US will retain control of the net || Mary Ann Sieghart on the Christian pagans of Mexico  || Adam Gopnick on the life of CS Lewis || Catherine Bennett on her fight with Cherie Blair || One woman against Coke, triumphant || Town sells itself for satellite TV service ||

"Without effective Opposition the political system is uncontained, spilling and revolting like a fish milkshake; misshapen. Perspective is lost. Distortion, necessarily, passes for public information from all quarters. We are all affected: the good public folk consider themselves being treated well by a government when they may not be; likewise, people consider themselves being treated unfairly by the government when they may not be. Opposition is the container to the mess that otherwise necessarily spews out and misshapes the political landscape." Robert Bosler

"Howard's step-by-step desensitisation of Australians to our traditional democratic values is being aided by powerful media organisations that have lost sight of their duty to speak truth to the people and to power. And by ambitious men and women who lead public service and national security organisations, and are similarly negligent of their public duty to offer fearless advice on the rule of law and on the social consequences of government policies and actions that transgress the rule of law. And the desperately opportunistic federal Opposition leader must share the blame too, for his cowardly me-tooism on all national security issues." Tony Kevin

"It cannot be said too often that democracy and the rule of law are not the same thing. There are lawless democracies and undemocratic "states of law" (Rechtsstaat). The constitution of liberty requires both, and the rule of law is the more difficult of the two to establish and maintain, for it requires not just a constitution but, almost more importantly, an independent judiciary that is sensitive to violations of constitutional and other legitimate rules." Ralf Dahrendorf

|| Ross Gittins responds to The Daily Briefing || Helene Cooper on the lot of Africa's women || Kevin Drum on Iran and Bush's credibility gap || Report on the use of white phosphorous in Fallujah || Dan Balz on the tide turning against Bush & Iraq || Matt Steinglass on the Zen response to terrorism || Ishtiaq Ahmed wonders if humans are united or estranged || Jack Shafer on how we'll know the boomers have moved on || Jon Pareles on Springsteen's 'Born to Run' box-set || 

"One of my favourite newspapers from Indonesia is Media Indonesia Online, in particular its editorials. It is often hard hitting and pulls no punches in its criticism of Indonesian social, economic and political value systems that have led Indonesia to its current predicaments. Monday's editorial was titled 'Three reasons why the terrorists choose Indonesia'. The original in Bahasa Indonesia is Tiga Alasan Teroris Memilih Indonesia. I thought it would be of interest to the Webdiarists to see the Indonesian perspective and so I translated the editorial." PF Journey

"The 'Paris Burning' story made no effort to say what 'multiculturalism' is. The term applies in vastly differing ways to France and Australia. 60 Minutes judged the story in advance and fitted Overton's field report to a tabloid style culture of fear. In so doing, the program failed to give an honest appraisal of the youth underclass in the French economy." Stephen Smith

"What has happened to my old factional colleague Bronwyn Bishop? She used to be such a solid citizen, a centre-right MP with good sense. I remember the days when she used to be committed to all her constituents regardless of their colour or faith ... So what has happened to this wonderful centre-right heroine? Why has she suddenly become so feral about Aussie Mossies? Which mossie bit her recently? Why does she insist Australians spray themselves with ethno-religious aerogard when it comes to Muslims?" Irfan Yusuf

|| Labor and Liberal, workers united || Laws don't protect workers: Andrews || Blog views || More photos - keep sending them in! ||

|| Ross Gittins on vested interests and the terrorism scare || George Monbiot says the US used chemical weapons in Fallujah || Report on the increasingly deadly war in Afghanistan  || David Aaronovitch on Islamophobes and Paris burning || Report on the relocation of Burma's capital || Peter Singer on factory farming and avian flu || David Gessner on the environmental lessons of a simple life || David Vise on better understanding Google || Julie Burchill on marriage, children and castration || Daniel Radosh on Borat and the truth about Kazakhstan || Report on the renewed interest in 60's clssic rock ||

|| Thousands protest around the country || Workers sacked for attending rally || Union to take legal action over Govt. rally leave advice || Webdiarists were there - photos and reports. Send in yours! ||

"In 1984, as you move up the hierarchy of the Party the role of doublethink becomes more conscious, complicated and significant. The proles don't have much need for doublethink. They aren't concerned with Party doctrine, and not expected to think, so mostly it is a simple matter of reconciling their own experience with the news reports. For ordinary Party members it is a bit more complicated, as they are concerned with doctrine, and their work is commonly (as it is for Winston) concerned with the mechanics of doublethink. But they are just doing a job, and higher authority must know what is right." Mark Sergeant

|| Gregg Bloche &  Jonathan Marks on the US and torture || David Corn on Ahmad Chalabi and Christopher Hitchens || Jonah Goldberg on the French riots || Margaret Drabble on Guantanamo Bay and tourism || Andrew Sorkin on the (possible) end of the buy-out bubble || Joseph Nocera on the impact of TimesSelect || MUSIC: William Dalrymple goes to Fes for music and Sufism || AC Grayling on libertines and the Earl of Rochester || Profile of Roger McGeough, a truly useless poet || BOOKS: John Banville's Booker-winning 'The Sea' ||

"Officially European states are distancing themselves from the hard-knuckled American fight against terrorism. Germany and France do not want to have anything to do with Guantanamo and the so-called Black Sites, where torture of suspects takes place, according to human rights groups. ... On the other hand, international cooperation in this conflict is indispensable and for this reason the German government has dispatched an official of the Federal Intelligence agency, as well as a representative of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. They attend the regular Camolin meetings in a barracks on the outskirts of Paris... Canada and Australia are involved." Translated from Der Spiegal by Alun Breward

G'day. Hot off the press, here's the Law Council of Australia's analysis of the terror legislation. The Council's president will give evidence to the Senate inquiry into the matter this afternoon. 

"Major changes to basic human rights threaten to undermine the foundations of both our society and economic system. As international investors with considerable experience covering the emerging economies of Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, as well as the world’s major economies, it is our observation that strong basic rights enshrined in the law and the judicial system are fundamental to creating economic prosperity. Indeed the “level of trust” within societies and the correlation with economic prosperity has been an area of significant academic study in recent years. We believe there is a high risk that the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism (No. 2) Bill 2005 will, over time, damage the level of trust in Australian society... We concur that Australia faces the real threat of terrorist acts on our shores. However, in the event of an attack(s), the subsequent confusion, fear and sense of injustice could produce an environment that sows the seed for a discordant civil order, exacerbated by poorly considered and drafted legislation." Kerr Neilson, MD of Platinum Asset Management, Australia's biggest offshore fund manager

"CSIRO’s huge Greenhouse 2005 conference opens today in Melbourne. Each day of the conference I’ll be reporting back on what actually got said, and looking forward to what is to come on the next day." David Roffey

Update: Reports from the first day's presentations including a speech by Victorian Deputy Premier and Environment Minister, John Thwaites.

|| Bruce Lawrence on the writings of Osama bin Laden || Andrew Sullivan on freedom and terror || Christina Lamb on the murder of Afghani poet Nadia Anjuman || Salman Rushdie calls for action in Kashmir || Report on the drought and agricultural failure in Malawi || Transcript of Rove's speech to The Federalist Society || Daniel Callahan on health costs and facing death || Report on reaction to Fox News global warming report || Jonathon Jones on Dada and the truth about the 20th century ||