Developments this week should make many Australians apprehensive about their economic future. Alan Austin reports.

The Queen has met Pope Francis for the first time during a one-day visit to Rome.

Frontiers in Psychology last month retracted the paper, Recursive fury: Conspiracist ideation in the blogosphere in response to research on conspiracist ideation “in light of a small number of complaints”, the journal said on its website. 

A year-long investigation “did not identify any issues with the academic and ethical aspects of the study,” it said. However, the probe found “the legal context (to be) insufficiently clear”. 

The prophets of gloom, H G Wells and George Orwell got it right but rather than be obviously submissive to a Big Brother government, we are now submissive to a big brother government that tells us to be comfortable and relaxed — while the MMMM pre-munches the news and the NSA spies on what we say in our communication... Meanwhile there are drugs designed to stimulate a "man's" imagination but most of them are illegal. The BIG Brother government does not want you to be over-stimulated or have any imagination...

The Abbott Government is becoming more and more widely ridiculed, writes Clint Howitt, who says this is the litmus test of a failed government.

Of course one has to decipher the words of the day... The Australian Natives' Association had and has nothing to do with Aboriginal people, who in 1959 were still invisible in the Australian population... This ANA was apolitical till it became affiliated with the Liberal (CONservative) party as it was an association of people BORN of WHITE people in this fair country... :

I have mentioned on this site before the cartoons of Molnar... Molnar was an expert at simple lines and as time went the lines even became simpler. And the mediocre mass media de mierda of the west still gets it wrong. Mind you the media from the east was not much better either...

The Federal Opposition has accused Bronwyn Bishop of "serious partiality" in her role as Speaker of the House of Representatives and sought to move a motion of no confidence in the Speaker.

Back to the future... Uncle Bob (before he became the only Australian Knight of the Order of the Thistle) talks to the COMMUNISTS... Somewhere in Africa there is a "massacre plot" confirmed as usual and the Aussie Cricket team in India and Pakistan is "disappointing"... Nothing new.

These gems presented to you from Sir Gus de Leon y Die Kartoffel's own collection of old Granny clippings (recovered from under old linoleum and rotting roof eaves) going as far back as the birth of christ-knows-who.  

Tony Abbott yesterday announced a bold, innovative plan to deal with pressing issues from the past century. Without consulting his cabinet or party room, the Prime Minister has decided to reinstate the old honours system that was done away with in 1986. This decisive step backwards was made because the existing system was for “eminent Australians” whereas the new knights and dames of the Order of Australia will be for “pre-eminent” Australians, said Abbott.

Wanting to distract and deflect, as well as punish and shame his Opposition counterpart, Tony Abbott abruptly came up with his plan to ennoble Quentin Bryce, writes Bob Ellis.

Mal would be spitting chips unless he has learned to be "philosophical" about Tony's budgies and being a prick...

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has brought back the titles of knights and dames for "pre-eminent" Australians, nearly three decades after the honour was abolished by the Hawke Labor government.