Something is seriously amiss when the former prime minister, John Howard, asserts that parents should be concerned about "one-sided science" being taught in our schools.

Leave aside that Howard was endorsing a new children's book on climate change by Professor Ian Plimer, a geologist whose sceptical representations of climate science for adults seem driven more by a conservative ideology.

Offshore processing is not a solution and will not stop people dying at sea.

The Prime Minister has dismissed a call by the Labor elder Bob Hawke to slash the power of unions within the ALP.

Julia Gillard defended the factional and union influences that were responsible for the destruction of Kevin Rudd's leadership in 2010.

Leaders of Canberra's Muslim community were surprised and saddened by offensive anti-Islamic pamphlets distributed to homes throughout Queanbeyan over the Christmas holidays.

Householders in Queanbeyan received the material depicting a Muslim man physically abusing a woman and a child and an Islamic elder condoning the violence as acceptable to his faith.

One local Muslim leader has questioned the legality of the material and said it was un-Christian to distribute such offensive literature.

The pamphlets were published by Chick Publications, a United States-based evangelical company.

La dramatisation est devenue la dernière cartouche d’un président acculé par la crise. Nicolas Sarkozy en a abondamment joué samedi 31 décembre 2011 lors de ses vœux aux français, qualifiant la crise d’« inouie », « sans doute la plus grave depuis la seconde guerre mondiale ». Desservi par la conjoncture marquée par la récession, la montée du chômage et le risque de perte du  triple A, Nicolas Sarkozy sait que ses réserves de popularité sont faibles.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa – Representative Michele Bachmann took the pulpit at the Jubilee Family Church here during the morning worship service on Sunday and preached from Scripture, weaving her personal story into biblical parables about redemption — a message that seemed tailored to reassure undecided voters about the viability of her embattled campaign.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/bachmann-makes-final-pitch-to-iowa-faithful/?hp

Few people will have been looking forward to the end of 2011 more keenly than the Gillard government, and the rather-less-than-mighty Australian Labor Party. Indeed, the only thing that might have dissuaded them from celebrating is the possibility that this year might be worse.

THE Opposition Leader was without doubt the standout performer of the year. Put aside your opinion of his (lack of) policies and his negative tactics. Indeed, put aside his poor personal ratings, too. Abbott can single-handedly take credit for the pressure the government is under. Despite coming heartbreakingly close to winning the 2010 election, he continued to work every day to expose government failings. So good has Abbott been, it's hard to distinguish between opposition spin and how Labor is really travelling. Can he keep it up for another two years? (see critique of this crap below)

INTEREST rates are headed down, the sharemarket will climb, and we'll survive whatever Europe throws at us.

That's the consensus of the 20 economists polled for the BusinessDay end-of-year economic survey.

Our terms of trade will slip in the year ahead, but not by enough to derail the Treasury's and Reserve Bank's pleasing forecast of economic growth close to trend.