Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

"We've chosen WorkChoices as a title because there will be far greater choice under this system," said John Howard last year. Now that his system has been in place for a couple of months let's put the choices made by employers under the spotlight and see what choices workers have (if any). Craig Rowley

"The general public is aware of clinical research trials, but there is little awareness that the number of subjects enrolled in research is much larger than the number enrolled in clinical trials alone. While some research-related deaths reach the popular media, the actual number of deaths in research is higher. Even regulators and industry experts are not aware of the true numbers of deaths and adverse events, due to the lack of proper reporting.": Adil Shamoo

There is much debate in the UK around the declaration by a group of bloggers and journos that calls for (yet another?) re-alignment of progressive forces under the heading of The Euston Manifesto. Life being what it is, the debate has been more around the "Elaborations" than around the "Statement of principles" - but are even the principles the right ones? To help you consider that question, here is the full text.

"As long as the Cultural Revolution remains unaccounted for, it will not have ended. If historical truth is not restored, the lessons cannot be learned. No amount of material prosperity can make China a healthy society without this necessary reckoning with the past": Liu Xiaobo

Some people have e-mailed asking what's happening: Hamish has taken some well-deserved time off (his first actual break other than Christmas in the last twelve months). Meantime, we seem to have hit a couple of days when the volunteer editors all have been busy on other stuff, so comments editing etc has been a bit intermittent. This is likely to continue for the next few days, so, if your favorite remark doesn't appear for a while, it probably will come round eventually ...

AMY GOODMAN: Today, we spend the hour with acclaimed author and activist Arundhati Roy. Her first novel, The God of Small Things, was awarded the Booker Prize in 1997. It’s sold over six million copies, has been translated in over 20 languages around the world. Since then, Roy has devoted herself to political writing and activism.

"On few other issues is the battle over history so intense as on the Israel-Palestine conflict. On few other issues has history been so turned from an academic discipline to a weapon of war. ... One tactic is to muse about how much nicer the world would be if the illegitimate state of Israel had never existed. Let’s go with this premise for a bit: Israel should never have existed. How would we shove the historical toothpaste back in the tube?" Will Howard

"Do international tribunals of the sort Milosevic faced before his death promote or postpone serious self-reflection and reconciliation in damaged societies? Do they strengthen or undermine the political stability needed to rebuild wrecked communities and shattered economies?" Jiří Dienstbier, Special Rapporteur of the UNHRC in the Balkans.

"Why is there culture? What motivates people to write poems, paint, or sing? Most people engaged in these activities would respond with answers like, “because I like to” or, “because it fulfills me,” if not, “I feel obliged not to waste my talent.” They tend to believe that culture reflects the existence of a soul type, or that it's an expression of humans’ intelligence and creativity. Natural science – as so often – has a more mundane answer, one that has to do with natural selection. ": Arne Jernelöv

There has been much debate on Webdiary over its nearly 6 years of existence about the merits of moderation and registration of comments and commenters. Most serious sites either moderate or require registration or both - we do both. Today's Crikey accuses the SMH (moderation without registration) of systematically not publishing critical comments on blogs. Meanwhile, over the Guardian's new Comment is Free site (registration without moderation), a debate is under way about the need to tone some of the abusive comments down ... what follows is the view of Guardian Online Editor Emily Bell.

Peter Singer discusses his latest book, The ethics of what we eat, at City Recital Hall on Saturday 27 May 7pm, and joins Naomi Wolf on a panel discussing What makes a civil society? at Sydney Town Hall at 4pm on Sunday 28 May. Haifa Zangana joins several panels discussing Iraq and War: at Parramatta Riverside Theatre, 6:30pm Thurs 25th; at Sydney Theatre, 11:30am, Fri 26th; and at Sydney Town Hall, 6pm Fri 26th. She also discusses the problem of murders of academics in Iraq at Sydney Theatre, 11am, Sat 27th. Add any other recommended spots in comments!

"What amazed me most during the UNTEA period was that the Indonesians, after a dozen years of listening to Sukarno's rhetoric about the burning Indonesian desire to liberate their Papuan brothers from their largely imaginary colonial yoke, seemed on nothing so intent as to subject these brothers to a real one. Instead of treating the people with tolerance and understanding, declarations of loyalty (through manifestoes, processions and flag raisings) were forced out of them through intimidation that was from time tot time reinforced by violence - or, in the case of some key figures, by blandishments such as the red carpet treatment in a free trip to Jakarta." Arie Brand

"This spring’s presidential election in Haiti sadly re-enforced the country’s blighted reputation. The paradox is that today Haiti has a chance, perhaps the best in its modern history, to escape from its long history of extreme poverty and turmoil." Jeffrey D Sachs

"The expansion of the moral circle could be about to take a significant step forwards. Francisco Garrido, a bioethicist and member of Spain’s parliament, has moved a resolution exhorting the government “to declare its adhesion to the Great Ape Project and to take any necessary measures in international forums and organisations for the protection of great apes from maltreatment, slavery, torture, death, and extinction.” The resolution would not have the force of law, but its approval would mark the first time that a national legislature has recognised the special status of great apes and the need to protect them, not only from extinction, but also from individual abuse." Peter Singer

"In modern mythology, ‘Chaucer’s Guide’ might well describe the journalist, reporter or news anchor. At various times they have all been figures the public trusts. They are experienced travelers to exotic places and zones of conflict, and know all the best ‘sources’ and experts. In front of the camera or in print they become a virtual guide to understanding. To this extent, the news media is more than a vocation: it has cultural authority. But in comparison to medieval times, the modern guide’s bag of tricks has Blue Tooth and all the gadgets of the digital age." Stephen Smith

"Cathy Trask's single-minded pursuit of her own self interest should make her, in some of her aspects, a feminist heroine. Cathy chooses prostitution as a business because she can't abide the thought of living as a blissful house-wife with her husband. She finds the thought of spending her life with her husband and his friends, with their gentle philosophical musings, unbearable. Who could blame her?" Solomon Wakeling

"For some time I thought that the Twenty-Second Amendment to the United States Constitution was probably the best way to ensure that political leaders do not overstay their welcome, and, just as importantly, wear out their effectiveness. This Amendment bars US Presidents from holding office for more than two four-year terms." Ralf Dahrendorf

"Before thinking about the charade that is about to be played out before us, it's worth beginning with an overview of the nuclear situation between India and and the US. We'll begin when President Bush visited India in March. He and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed an agreement that seeks to provide India access to American and other international assistance in developing its civil nuclear power program." Richard Tonkin

"The IMF’s meeting this spring was lauded as a breakthrough, with officials given a new mandate for “surveillance” of the trade imbalances that contribute significantly to global instability. The new mission is crucially important, both for the health of the global economy and the IMF’s own legitimacy. But is the Fund up to the job?" Joseph E Stiglitz

"Nadir being a magical land, strange things were apt to happen on its periphery where it intersected the space-time continuum near the place we know as Canberra, the home of the House On the Hill or rather, in it." From Chapter VII of the Chronicles of Nadir, as told from the grave by Tom Lewis.

"During the 1948-49 war and throughout the 1950’s some 500 Arab villages and cities were destroyed and almost all were razed to the ground by the Israeli Army. One of the worst massacres of Arabs took place at Deir Yasin in April 1948 and it is on this land that the official State of Israel holocaust memorial, Yad va-Shem, now stands as well as the City of Jerusalem cemetery. There’s something seriously tasteless, or sublimely arrogant, about building a memorial to the suffering of your own people on land where you have committed a war crime!" Roslyn Ross

"President George W Bush has said that Iran’s development of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, and recent press accounts suggest that his administration is exploring preventive military options. In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defied the diplomatic efforts of the European Union and others, using the nuclear issue to stir rally domestic support. Is it too late to prevent a showdown?" Joseph S Nye

"I know that Zeina will continue her work. She is one of the few independent journalists still working in Iraq defying the occupation forces as well as their puppet regime, with its sectarian and ethnic militias. More than 100 Iraqi journalists have been killed since the invasion in March 2003. Women journalists, academics, and doctors have not been spared." Haifa Zangana

"This budget fails middle Australia and mortgages our kids' future. That's why tonight I want to speak to the families of Australia about our shared hopes and aspirations for the future." The Honourable Kim Beazley, MP