Increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter; increased chatter ................

There could be an argument in favour of using the illusion of Santa Claus to jollify our lives — especially when we don't know what we're doing or what the future shall bring us. At least we can fudge things for a few moments, though for some people, Christmas can be a time of sadness and loneliness...

Milne told reporters on Monday that while Abbott was spruiking the abolition of the carbon tax, his government had undermined services to women such as legal aid in domestic violence cases and homelessness support.

“He might as well have said that by abolishing the carbon price he’s been able to give women more money to buy a new iron and stay at home and do the ironing more often,” Milne said.

If you go to Tony Abbott’s facebook page, at time of writing, you will find six threads about the Martin Place siege and one about the slaughter of innocent children in Pakistan.  Four days after its release, you will not find any comment about Hockey’s MYEFO.  That in itself should be cause for concern.

In 1964, the Brazilian military, in a US-designed coup, overthrew a liberal (not more to the left than that) government and proceeded to rule with an iron fist for the next 21 years. In 1979 the military regime passed an amnesty law blocking the prosecution of its members for torture and other crimes. The amnesty still holds.

from Crikey ….

In the course of 2014, around 70 women and children will have died at the hands of a partner, ex-partner or father. We don’t know exactly how many, because governments across Australia don’t keep uniform sets of data, but we know roughly how many based on historical data.

Drone strikes and other "targeted killings" of terrorist and insurgent leaders favoured by the US and supported by Australia can strengthen extremist groups and be counterproductive, according to a secret CIA report published by WikiLeaks.

According to a leaked document by the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence, "high value targeting" (HVT) involving air strikes and special forces operations against insurgent leaders can be effective, but can also have negative effects including increasing violence and greater popular support for extremist groups.

Yes the Government has done well not to chase falling revenue by cutting expenditure after the mini budget, but it has done little to bolster economic growth other than saying it will be bolstered, writes Greg Jericho.

In Bush family lore, Jeb was always supposed to be the smarter, more level-headed one.