When studying global warming in depth, one has to make allowances for uncertainty, fluctuations and elasticity. One has to always question whether one is right or wrong... 

Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years, drawing Palestinian condemnation and a U.S. rebuke.

So, what has the government actually done,” asked News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt in early August, “to reassure the party faithful that, yes, this is a Liberal government?”

When one studies the "terms of reference" for the royal commission into the "Pink bats", one can only see it is set up for the study of failures, not that of successes. ANY BUSINESS in Australia could be submitted to the same rigmarole and come with a giant F for FAILURE... In fact the HIP was very successful despite a few set backs which HAPPEN in any industry. ON THIS LEVEL, the HIP was far more successful than most private enterprises. "This" royal commission was a waste of time and money.

Interviews with senior Labor Party figures, both past and present, published in the new book Triumph and Demise by the Australian newspaper’s leading political journalist Paul Kelly, cast a further revealing light on the circumstances surrounding the June 23-24, 2010 coup that ousted Labor leader Kevin Rudd as prime minister and installed Julia Gillard.

With the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine turning a local civil war into a U.S. confrontation with Russia, U.S. intelligence veterans urge President Obama to release what evidence he has about the tragedy and silence the hyperbole.

Imagine this: A Muslim zealot hands out offensive brochures in a public school. The material tells impressionable children that girls who do not cover themselves invite sexual assault by tempting men (who are famously weak of flesh - it's the way God made them).

The independent Parliamentary Budget Office has called into question claims health spending is spiralling out of control, noting government spending is projected to grow in line with the economy over the next decade and that health will account for only a small amount to that growth.

* from politicoz ….

"My thoughts are well-known to many people, but that had no bearing on this report whatsoever," he told ABC radio.

"We looked into this with a completely open mind. We consulted with over 200 people, stakeholders, governments, right across the country, we had 800 to 900 submissions which we reviewed, we took all of that into account when we came to our report. It had nothing to do with my other thoughts in that area."

Mr Warburton also accused the renewable energy sector of "extreme exaggeration" about the loss of jobs and small businesses is [if —sic] the government adopted the report's recommendations.

Mr Obama's decision to address the media in a breezy, light-coloured summer suit swiftly took centre stage for many, even though he was talking about Russian responsibility for rebel actions in Ukraine and ongoing US air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq.

“I think we as Australia have to continue to step up to the plate to meet our world objectives, to do the right thing by the peoples of the world & to stand up for our Western values & I think our values & the American values align completely. I think the threat posed by the Islamic State is to all civilised peoples, not just us of white Anglo-Saxon backgrounds.”

The Education Minister is confident he can negotiate with Senate crossbenchers to get the package through Parliament by November.

Qantas has shocked everyone with a record $2.84 billion headline loss, around three times as bad as expected.