Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

"A criminal lawyer friend tells me it is not uncommon for police statements to have the same punctuation mistakes. Everyone is supposed to turn a blind eye to this or perhaps place it with the crop circle mystery again." Jim Dowling

"Since 1980, the multi million dollar live animal export industry has come under increasing pressure from animal welfare groups, and on 26 February the Federal Government suspended the live trade to Egypt on animal welfare grounds." Jenny Hume

"During his recent visit to New Zealand, British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke of climate change, closer bilateral relations and the strong historical ties between Britain and New Zealand. But not of Iraq. And who could blame him. Even when visiting Australia, a most willing partner in the Iraq expedition, both Blair and visiting US Secretary of State Rice faced anti-war protests." Irfan Yusuf

"It is well known that presently the region with its rich mineral resources is one of the most important income spinners for the Indonesian government (and the Indonesian army). That was entirely different in Dutch times. The scanty knowledge about mineral resources then encouraged virtually no one to invest in a region the future of which was so uncertain." Arie Brand

"After Tony Blair’s talk, what better test of his values than the US led response to the looting of Baghdad. The month of April marks the third anniversary of the fall of Saddam. Let us put Blair’s values to the test. For all his cheap charisma, words turn to ashes in his mouth." Stephen Smith

"Maybe if the mercenaries who ended his life didn't belong to a company that had lost lives in a car bomb explosion two years back, when they were protecting water and electricity engineers, this tragedy might not have occurred... All these armed men saw, as they guarded a convoy of contractors, was an old Iraqi getting too close for comfort." Richard Tonkin

"Does the rise of left-leaning governments in Latin America, particularly the election of Evo Morales as President of Bolivia, presage a shift to the hard left across the continent? Does it mark a repudiation of United States foreign policy in the region? Will it, for example, lead to a re-nationalisation of Bolivia’s vast natural gas deposits?" Jeffrey D Sachs

"Back in the eighteenth century Kant had said no, but asserted that there were “clear indications that the way is now being opened for men to proceed freely in this direction [toward enlightenment] and that the obstacles to general enlightenment--to their release from their self-imposed immaturity - are gradually diminishing.” The standing obstacles may have been diminishing, but we are creatures handy at constructing new ones. In taking up Kant's call to "Sapere Aude!" (Dare to know!) you could think we would have done a better job with Socrates' suggestion that we heed that precept inscribed in gold letters over the portico of the temple at Delphi - gnothi seauton (know thyself)." Craig Rowley

"Earlier this month, Mikhail Gorbachev celebrated his 75th birthday with a concert and conference at his foundation in Moscow. Unfortunately, he is not popular with the Russian people, who blame him for the loss of Soviet power. But, as Gorbachev has replied to those who shout abuse at him, 'Remember, I am the one who gave you the right to shout'." Joseph S Nye

"It had to happen eventually, and now it has. The cyclone hammered people of Innisfail have been mightily slagged by Sydney columnist Miranda Devine, safely tucked up in her warm PJs as she delivers her scathing, bitter verdict on mothers with children in tow who spent two days or more standing in the rain in the Innisfail town square last week." Darryl Mason

"As support for President George W Bush in the United States has crumbled over the past year, perhaps the most surprising element is the revolt of economists and observers of economic policy. Last week, Peggy Noonan, a speechwriter for both President Reagan and the first President Bush declared in the Wall Street Journal that had she known what George W Bush’s fiscal policy would be, she would have voted for Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election." J Bradford DeLong

"In the current environment, with anything related to Islam being painted as violent and ugly, it is sometimes easier for those of us who don’t feel the urge to hate the faith and all its followers to presume every attack is part of some agenda. Conspiracies often make excellent self-fulfilling prophecies." Irfan Yusuf

"It is five days to the Israel elections. Permit me to show you a link between two events this week that superficially appear to be unconnected. Ehud Olmert announced publicly that he would not have Lieberman in his coalition unless the latter accepted his “convergence” plan. The Centre for the Struggle against Racism released figures indicating that we are incredibly racist towards Arab men and women. Nearly 70 per cent of us are unwilling to live next door to an Arab. Just under half of us are unwilling to have an Arab visit us at home, and 40 per cent think that the state ought to encourage the emigration of Arabs. I wonder what the figures would have been had the question proposed our own expulsion from this land?" Merav Michaeli, translated by Sol Salbe.

"The country had been plunged into war and, to keep the children safe, Peter, Amanda, Alexander and little Lucy had been sent as far from the reality of conflict as possible: Canberra." From Chapter 1 of the Chronicles of Nadir, as told from the grave by Tom Lewis

"Science, and the behavior of scientists, has never been perfect. Consider the Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk, whose claim to have extracted stem cells from human embryos that he cloned turned out to be based on phony research. Hwang has just been fired by Seoul National University, and six of his co-workers have been suspended or had their pay cut." Steve Fuller

"Mine is a different approach. I want to lead a prosperous nation that stands on its own two feet. Confident, independent and secure. Built on the vast potential of this country and our people. This is what has guided my 25 years in Parliament. It's what drives me today. And it will drive my every waking moment until the election I will win in 2007." Kim Beazley

"High levels of depleted uranium (DU) have been measured in the atmosphere in Britain, transported on air currents from the Middle East and Central Asia. Scientists cited the U.S. bombing of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in 2001 and the “Shock and Awe” bombing during Gulf War II in Iraq in 2003 as one of the main reasons." Leuren Moret

"The Japanese are six times as rich as they were in 1950 and they aren’t any happier and neither are Americans who are twice as rich as they were in the 1970’s. Across the world it seems clear that instead of getting happier as they become better off people become more frightened. Expectations are raised at the same pace as incomes and happiness is always just a little out of reach." Roslyn Ross

"Many regard journalism as having undergone a revolution over the last 20 years, in which ‘straight’ grassroots fact-reporting has declined in favour of opinion writing. Both political colours have been part of this shift. Albrechtsen and stablemates like Greg Sheridan – who has also been embarrassed by some exposures of questionable journalism – still appear loud and proud on their opinion pages. So opinion is clearly good business, even if quality is found wanting. Either that or The Australian believes winning the culture war necessarily means dispensing with some of the ‘civil liberties’ of journalism. In any case, controversial writers can always hide behind the subjectivity inherent in the world of ‘opinion’." Martin Spalding

"The Left may be criticized for missing a sense of humour. Well, Richard Neville’s recent culture jamming of John Howard’s website has proven to be one of the best japes in years. Jammin’ may refer to dancing in Jamaican patois, but our own brand of creative jamming is in the spirit of another Marley line – “forget your troubles and dance!” Whatever your jammin’, diving into the media fray to rock the system from within has a lot to recommend it." Stephen Smith

"Slobodan Milosevic cheated justice, and by doing so demonstrated the futility of attempting to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity through international prosecutions. That, at least, is the conclusion that some people have reached after Milosevic’s death in a Hague prison: the fact that he was able to drag out his trial for four years and still escape a verdict is considered proof that the international community is wasting its resources by putting such people on trial for their misdeeds." Aryeh Neier