One might think that by now even Americans would have caught on to the constant stream of false alarms that Washington sounds in order to deceive the people into supporting its hidden agendas.

If you can attend an Anzac Day ceremony and hear the Turkish ambassador read the famous words of Turkish president Ataturk without an enormous lump in your throat, my bet is you are a very rare Australian.

With the freedom lovers restricting freedom even further to defend freedom, (oh, and don’t forget security), I am reminded of this from Peter Arnett about Bến Tre city in Vietnam on 7 February 1968.

He wrote that a US army commander said:

Tickets prices for the Rugby League Grand Final

Grand Final Ticket Prices

from crikey ….

Targeting of Muslims risks the exact terror threat we claim to oppose ….

In this short little presentation Prof. Mark Blyth of the Watson Institute for International Studies explains why austerity (that is, increasing taxes and slashing public spending on vital services, while of course spending increasing amounts of money on shoring up our deadbeat financial system) is not only not common sense, it is nonsense - and a dangerous one at that.

You have to admire the Abbott Government’s chutzpah.

Islamic State released a statement calling on believers to kill, among others, Australians. On the 7.30 Report Attorney-General George Brandis explained that they hate us for our democracy, our freedoms, our respect for women.

Are you confused by what is going on in the Middle East?

Let Tony explain.

There are times when farce and living caricature almost consume the cynicism and mendacity in the daily life of Australia's rulers. Across the front pages is a photograph of a resolute Tony Abbott with Indigenous children in Arnhem Land, in the remote north. "Domestic policy one day," says the caption, "focus on war the next."

The core government responsibility of protecting lives should not have to come at the cost of illiberal privacy subversions, as represented by the data retention proposal.

Australians have been rightly appalled by the shocking images of depravity and mayhem caused by the jihadist military group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now known as Islamic State, and of Australian citizens found combating in conflict‑torn parts of the Middle East.

Select your preferred relaxation technique – a few deep breaths, a stiff drink perhaps, or some yoga – for you are about to hear how you have just paid for something twice.

Worse still, you will hear how you have been paying for something, on a quarterly basis for the past 10 years, which you have already paid for. We are all victims of a high-brow rort by governments and energy companies.