Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

... Webdiary and its moderators are off on a frolic, chilling, recharging, what you will.

The latest update from the Democratic Audit program at Swinburne on how our democracy is working.

One of the favourite statements made by the [former] Minister is that “people in detention can go home anytime they choose to co-operate with Australian authorities”. But the cases of Akram al Masri and three other Palestinians gave us an excellent opportunity to claim release on a writ of habeas corpus due to the inability of the Minister to have other countries co-operate with his plans.

 Once upon a time, as the Coalition forces gathered at the Kuwait/Iraq border, a publicist brought along some representative national flags and placed them in the hands of invading soldiers.  This provided an image of international unity behind the invading of Iraq to sieze Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction.  Now, whether it be by accident or design (I prefer to think the latter) the Iraqi cameraman has given the U.S. a living flag, representing resentment of perceived injustice.

Malthus was wrong as demographers well know. It’s well known that the projections Malthus made of the English population failed to unfold, and the steep upward curve of population plateaued and now actually creeps downward, not just in England but in many parts of the World.  We know perfectly well what the key factor is in causing that plateau, and it’s not affluence as such, it’s not telling the Catholics to shut up (Ireland and Italy have among the lowest fertility rates in the World), it’s not giving out free condoms and abortions, it’s not an authoritarian imposition of small families, and it has nothing to do with immigration. It’s teaching women to read.

Not only is today's announcement deeply flawed and short-sighted policy, one that all but ignores the science and economics of what is at stake, but it is also – and you must know this – a deliberate betrayal of the democratic process by the ALP and you personally.

"We've disrupted plots to attack our homeland. We have captured or killed hundreds of al Qaeda leaders and operatives in more than two dozen countries -- including the man who mastermind the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.  The terrorists continue to pose serious challenges, as the world saw in the terrible attack in Mumbai last month. Al Qaeda's top two leaders remain at large. Yet they are facing pressure so intense that the only way they can stay alive is to stay underground. The day will come, the day will come when they receive the justice they deserve." - U.S. President George W. Bush

This crash is beginning to hit the fan at levels that many have expected since its commencement, and meanwhile the PM's delivering a show that should be on air between Teletubbies and Sesame Street.

Today, as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, we've been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to ensure that human rights are finally protected in Australia. (GetUp)

Nuclear-armed Pakistan went into a state of ‘high alert’ last weekend and was eyeing India for possible signs of military aggression, after a threatening phone call made to President Asif Ali Zardari by someone from Delhi who posed himself as the Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Whether it was mere mischief or a sinister move by someone in the Indian external affairs ministry, or the call came from within Pakistan, remains unclear, and is still a matter of investigation.

For all those who want an explanation for this cruelty it seems to come down to a statement made by Philip Ruddock to the Los Angeles Times in April 2002 “if you come separately, you are not entitled to family reunion”. The result is there for all the world to see.

According to Anderson and Bows (2008) it may be too late to arrest climate change by reduced carbon emission alone. Humanity needs to fast-track development of techniques for atmospheric CO2 down-draw to levels c. 350 ppm and below (Hansen et al., 2008). (Andrew Glikson)

November site stats & financials.

Forests pump salt back down into the ground. They retain water to minimise flooding and feed the water into the water-table over a much longer period of time, as well as through condensation contributing further to precipitation, thus pushing back desertification. They stop erosion and rebuild soil. They lock up millions of tons of carbon, provide habitat and corridors for creatures of foot and wing, deal with all manner of toxins in highly creative ways, and produce oxygen. They keep rivers alive.

When we swipe our card for a clothing purchase, we might think twice about the price, or the bill we’ll get at the end of the month, but we should really be thinking about what we don’t see when we pick up the end product. Could my weakness for new clothing purchases not only be costing me a pretty penny, but also be costing the environment a fortune?

I want nothing short of transformational change in Australia’s schools. Let’s be honest. Current achievement levels are simply not good enough in too many schools. Australia still performs well in international studies. But we do not achieve as highly as we should or could. Our performance at the higher levels of achievement is static or declining. And our persistent tail of low achievement, associated as it is with socioeconomic disadvantage, is too long. (Julia Gillard)

Let’s take it from the top. Fran Kelly put this project together and she is well respected by other journalists (an interesting enough tale in itself). In my view she hasn’t done a very good job but when all you have to do is sit back and watch a bunch of self-important dimwits who’ve never done a decent day’s work in their lives commit hara kiri in front of you, I guess you lose the incentive to try any harder.

It’s a bit like passing a pub on a very hot Australian afternoon – there are times when you just can’t resist. The two things that took my eye today in the job ads were this. What does one have to do to be a real professor in Wagga? And this that I must just reproduce in full because it offers such a fun opportunity for a jape in tough times ...

In doing so, they've shown the control order as unnecessary.  The idea of asking the AFP for the order was passed to the South Australian Government by our Foreign Minister, Bush sycophant Alexander Downer.  There are two perceivable useful political purposes for such an order.  One is that it showed the South Australian public that Hicks was a bad man that needed watching.  The other is that it showed the world that another government was prepared to participate in the Guantanamo military tribunal system by honouring its findings. 

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew; And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true; That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four -- Rudyard Kipling, 1919

The answer to the question of who owns water is that no-one owns water. Water belongs to the earth, it belongs to all species, it belongs to future generations. It's a common, and it's a public trust, and it's a human right. And ... no-one has the right to appropriate it for personal profit while other people are dying. (Maude Barlow)

Child care in Australia is in desperate need of an overhaul. The crisis that we are seeing with ABC Learning Centres is simply the tip of the iceberg. For years and years, we have seen the child-care sector in Australia being taken over by profiteers and being seen as an industry. Child care should be seen as an essential service. (Senator Hanson-Young)