Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

All this will seem small beer in the face of the real “Holocaust” that is already unfolding and the ability of our civilisation to cope with it is dependent on a spirit of cooperation that transcends racialism and nationalism. I know where I’d put my money but wouldn’t be able to spend my winnings.

New South Wales Legislative Council has released its report on Electoral and Political Party Funding in NSW. Among other things, the committee recommends a $1,000 cap on private donations and a ban on corporate donations. "Political donations and election spending would be disclosed in a timely, transparent and accessible manner," says the report.

This of course blows a hole in another ancient Bush fallacy, the one in which former Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld said "the oil wells belong to the Iraqi people" and former secretary of State Colin Powell seconded him by saying Iraqi oil "will be held in trust for the Iraqi people."

"My people are at breaking point. World leaders' bold rhetoric must be backed with military force" - Morgan Tsvangirai in the Guardian

You can do two things with land in the grain belt. You can work it and try and make it work for you or, rather, your bank balance. Or you can give it a break, let the place go back to grass, put livestock on it, and forget about the bank balance. Few families have the luxury of that choice.

This week we will sadly see the last of the Australian Democrat senators leave parliament. It will be the end of an era and the end of a dream. Who knows how long it will take for the opportunity of true democracy to return to Australia? Who will keep the bastards honest now?

The principle effectively ... was that, in order to protect a person’s privacy if that person gave personal data to the collector, the collector could not use that data for any other purpose than what the person had given it for, except by specific authority of law or by the approval of the data subject. ... Then along came Google and Yahoo! (The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby)

Whilst there is now plenty of discussion about the responses that governments should be making to address the predicted consequences of climate change, the focus seems to have been largely on the economic, trade and security issues. The social and human rights implications rarely rate a mention. (The Hon. John von Doussa)

In little more than a month we’ll know whether the next name on the list and the next legend of the Tour is a gifted young athlete from Australia’s Top End. And the many Australians who will follow the race here in France and on SBS this year will be shouting: Allez Cadel!

The document ..., entitled 'Northern Territory Emergency Response Situation Report as at 1500 hrs Wed 14th May 08', paints a picture of an incomplete roll out of the Northern Territory Intervention, an emergency response that Mal Brough recently admitted to ABC Darwin radio was put together in 48 hours. (Sophie Black, Crikey)

Politically, all democracies are bedevilled by the structures of political power which defeat democracy’s moral influence, killing its empathetic equality of power and political opportunity for all citizens.

Back in February, I wrote that "oil prices will continue to rise until they have suppressed demand back to match supply", and forecast a headline barrel price of $120 in June and $145 at year end. Now it's June and $139.69, what's next?

The political landscape [in America] was fascinating last fall, intriguing on the Democratic Party side, on the Republican/GOP (Grand Old Party) side a congregation of rococo grotesques usually not seen outside a Sinclair Lewis novel or a Nick Cave murder ballad.

The Stockholm Network’s Carbon Scenarios describe 3 plausible futures resulting from 3 different approaches to climate policy at the international level. Worryingly, none of the scenarios provides a policy which achieves climate ‘success’ as defined by the UK, EU and UN (a greater than 90% chance of no more than 2°C warming above preindustrial levels).

The thin, fragile, wavery line that distinguishes democracy from something akin to Pol Pot or Pinochet is, at the eleventh hour, reaffirmed by the court.   There are certain positions that are just not negotiable. 

Wars make a lot of money and threats of war make more as stable economies can continue in a pyramid scheme to beef up these carrion feeders using taxes. In the USA, the actual government is tightly interwoven with this industry due to the national security impetus and the drive for privatisation as a model. Trouble is the same industry then sells to US future threats and hence the whole thing is nationally stupid but financially gold making.....

"One opinion, yes, Dalai Lama as a troublemaker. So, after he gone, he pass away, the thing's automatically solved. That's one opinion. Another opinion is better while that troublemaker remains there, you can deal." -the Dalai Lama

Iemma is trying not to sound worried, declaring: "It is still a party at war with itself as you've seen from this week, and they've done nothing to stop the war." He might well be right. With Howard gone, the Libs no longer have a strong leader to keep Campbell and Photios from stabbing each other in the back.

"We’re training our people in smarter purchasing practices - we need to worry less about stocking up for a rainy day and more about getting our quantities right. Where it makes sense to do so, taking a ‘just in time’ rather than a ‘just in case’ approach will save both time and money. " - Department of Defence Secretary Nick Warner

What happened to chapters 3 to 7, you ask. Well, I was discussing that with Jack the other day and I think it’s all getting away from him a bit. But just to get you back up to speed – oh yes, a little lower m’dear – I jotted down a few notes and passed them to the scribbler lad.

RU486 remains essentially a prohibited import ... in a category of its own too hard for doctors and pharmacists to get approval to prescribe it, too hard for drug companies to get approval to make it available. And this is having a sad and costly side-effect. You see, RU486 is not only an abortion drug. It has life-saving effects for patients with cancer and benign tumours. (Crispin Hull)

While many are taking small steps personally to save water and minimise use of resources, without leaders acting as statesmen and calling for the big changes which alone can make a dent in the problem, we will get nowhere.

According to the DSM, pedophilia is a form of paraphilia in which a person either has acted on intense sexual urges towards children, or has sexual urges towards and fantasies about children that cause distress or interpersonal difficulty. In common usage, the term pedophile or paedophile refers to an adult who is sexually attracted to children, whether or not the adult acts upon that attraction by sexually abusing a child.

As someone who saw the race riots of the 1960’s and the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King, the prospect of a black U.S. President was indeed a big dream. Let’s hope that Barack Obama, if he is elected, moves the United States back from the brink of disaster

This story is impossibly sad - Amal died of breast cancer in Australia after surviving Saddam Hussein, the water, Indonesia for months and years of anxiety. She did not survive Australia.

Rudd says that we didn't look at the intelligence independently. He's right. While Alexander Downer was echoing Donald Rumsfeld's knowledge of the locations of the Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Australian parliament, the truth of the matter was that there weren't any there.

May site statistics and financials, with a bit of extra analysis on who you all are.