As politicians are asking ordinary Americans to sacrifice their education, their health, their labor rights, and their wellbeing to tackle budget deficits, some of the world's richest multinational corporations are getting away with shirking their responsibility and paying nothing. ThinkProgress has assembled a short but far from comprehensive list of these tax dodgers - corporations which have rigged the tax system to their advantage so they can reap huge profits and avoid paying taxes:

Silvio Berlusconi is an internationally renowned figure, but not for his good reputation as an upright and respectable statesman, rather as a notorious man who can be called one of the most corrupt politicians of the world in all terms.

An unflappable and defiant politician who has accumulated a collection of criminal charges for which he hasn't been held accountable so far, Berlusconi is approaching the first stages of punishment for several crimes he committed during his three terms of premiership in Italy.

An open letter to Prue McSween from Gus Leonisky

Dear Prue
It's time we had a little chat, head to head...

Prime Minister Julia Gillard endured a fiery morning on talkback radio today as she came out swinging in the political war over her plans to put a price on Australia's carbon emissions.

Yesterday Ms Gillard announced the scheme would start from July 2012 but did not say how much carbon would cost and gave no firm date for it to become a fully fledged emissions trading scheme.

The news prompted a fierce response from the Opposition, with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott branding the carbon price "a historic betrayal" which looks like a "conspiracy of the Parliament against the people".

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop says the announcement is a betrayal of trust for the Australian people.

"This represents a fundamental breach of an election promise that the Prime Minister gave solemnly to the Australian people on the eve of the last election," she said.

"She said there would be no carbon price, no carbon tax under any government that she led.

"She has broken the trust the Australian people put in her at the last election.

"It's another example of the Labor Party being in government, but the Greens being in power."

Last night on Lateline (ABCTV) Malcolm the Debonair explained to Tony Jones, with great smiles and affability, that ALL his Liberal colleagues we uninamous on embracing multi-culturalism in Orstraylia...... That is not the impression we got from a few of them including Tony the Little Rattus. Transcript should be available soon...

RICHMOND, Va. — For nearly a year, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, Virginia’s crusading Republican attorney general, has waged a one-man war on the theory of man-made global warming.

TONY ABBOTT'S hopes of encouraging the federal independents to switch sides before the next election have taken a blow, with Rob Oakeshott saying he will not be attending any more weekly meetings with the Opposition Leader because of the Coalition's ''personal attacks''.

The final straw for Mr Oakeshott was an address by the shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, at a function in his electorate on Friday night for a NSW state National Party candidate, where Mr Hockey delivered a message on behalf of the radio announcer Alan Jones that ''a vote for an independent is a vote for Labor''. Jones pulled out of the event at the last minute due to illness.

Australia remains committed to the war in Afghanistan, despite the rising death toll, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

"Jamie Larcombe was taking the fight to insurgents," Ms Gillard told reporters in Canberra, noting that the whole nation would mourn his death.

But it's in the nation's interest to remain in Afghanistan, Ms Gillard said.

"It's a hard mission and I'm not underestimating the costs."

"I am immeasurably sad, but I am certainly very determined to see the mission through.

"We have the men and the means to acquit our mission," she added.

Would you change your diet - even if it damaged your health - to save the environment? Australians have never been asked the question, although it's a fair bet most would answer with a resounding "no."

What if the environmental benefit was uncertain and the data said to support it held secret?

A hand-picked group of Australians on a secretive sub-committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council have answered yes for you and are determined you will not get to make up your own mind.

The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences in New Zealand says there has been a major earthquake in the city of Christchurch.

The institute is still trying to confirm the magnitude.

All phone lines to the city are down.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/22/3145320.htm?section=justin

-----------------