Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Greg Medcraft might wish he was in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday instead of fronting up to the Masonic centre in Sydney's central business district for a Senate inquiry into the performance of the corporate regulator.

8-10-13-16-19-22-23 — the beauty of consciousness.... (The numbers refer to the chart in "a simplified history of religion"... WAR)

... and wars...

Here I was, this morning, thinking that, soon, global warming was going to hit us for six, relent, let a couple of doosies go to the keeper and hit us for four... In the next over, global warming would hit us in the head, in the balls and for another six beyond the reporters boxes... And the ball is lost on the roof...

The single largest factor in the underlying deterioration of the federal budget announced by Treasurer Joe Hockey in December was a cash payout of almost $900 million to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

Does the Earth go around the sun, or does the sun go around the Earth?

When asked that question, 1 in 4 Americans surveyed answered incorrectly. Yes, 1 in 4. In other words, a quarter of Americans do not understand one of the most fundamental principles of basic science. So that’s where we are as a society right now.

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A week which started out as the one in which the Liberals hoped to begin to fight back has delivered them even more bad news, says Bob Ellis.

from mike carlton ….

(To the tune of Kingston Town)

Down the Bay all the Knights of Jay

 sip cocktails on the deck of Kevin Foley's yacht

With every drink the ship did sink

for the Wets were caught in a Right Wing Plot

      And I'm sad to say that it's Goodbye, Jay

     We won't see you come Election Day

     Your polls are down, no chance to turn them around

     and little Adelaide will be a Liberal Town

The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has told parliament he was unable to do anything to prevent Toyota from ending car manufacturing in Australia but that the government’s job was “not to preserve every single business indefinitely”.

“When some businesses close, other businesses open. While some jobs end, others start”.

The BBC's Today programme is enjoying high ratings, and the Mail and Telegraph are, as usual, attacking the corporation as left-wing. Last month, a single edition of Today was edited by the artist and musician P.J. Harvey. What happened was illuminating.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is expected to announce a royal commission into unions and their finances as Federal Parliament prepares to return this week.