Even by today's standards, godless, childless 'Ju-liar' cops more than her fair share.

MANY Australians believe politics to be an ideological cesspool. It's little wonder: Labor hasn't represented working people since Bob Hawke held office, and the Liberal Party hasn't espoused liberal values since Malcolm Fraser. Both major parties effectively ceased to exist decades ago.

the little book of no ....

Ethics classes in schools are not safe yet. In a backroom deal between the O'Farrell government and the Christian Democrats, the fate of the classes may lie with a Legislative Council committee weighted with right-wing Christians.

from the Power Index .....

Kos Sclavos is the hot-headed pharmacist from Brisbane who leads the nation's most feared and effective lobby group: the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. His supporters laud him as a "colossus"; his critics accuse him of stifling competition, depriving patients of discounted medicines and putting pharmacists' profits ahead of the community's health.

From Jonathan Holmes

"But to my mind, that interview doesn’t justify the programs.

However much Australian Story may deny it, the fact is it did question the jury’s verdict reached after a seven week trial. As I’ve said before, only compelling new evidence justifies a TV program doing that – and in my view, we didn’t get it."

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Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan...

Federal MPs are set for a massive pay rise - taking a backbencher's salary close to $200,000 a year - but will lose some entitlements and have their future ''gold pass'' travel slashed.

The Remuneration Tribunal, which makes binding determinations on salaries for MPs and senior public servants, will announce the results of a rigorous review within weeks, with speculation that the rise for backbenchers could be $50,000. They are currently paid about $140,000.

From the dawn of the colonial era, long before they even had a national identity, Americans have always felt they had a special role in the world, though the exact nature of American exceptionalism has always been a matter of some dispute.

Many have taken it to be a special religious destiny, but Alexis de Tocqueville, the first to consider it systematically, affirmed the exact opposite: "a thousand special causes ... have singularly concurred to fix the mind of the American upon purely practical objects." Ironically enough, the exact term "American exceptionalism" was first used by Joseph Stalin, in order to reject it.

The BBC has been forced to apologise after television presenter Jeremy Clarkson said British public sector workers taking part in a 24-hour walkout should be shot in front of their families.

The national broadcaster issued an on-air apology, saying Clarkson's comments in an interview on the BBC One live talk show, The One Show, were a misjudged attempt at comedy.

When asked what he thought of the strikers, Clarkson said: "I would have them all shot".

"I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families," added the presenter, best known as the face of the BBC's top-rated Top Gear car show.

James Murdoch has been re-elected as the chairman of British broadcaster BSkyB, but critics who wanted him to resign over the phone hacking scandal that has rocked Britain say his position is weakened.

BSkyB said Murdoch won the support of more than 81 per cent of shareholders who voted on Tuesday, while nearly 19 per cent voted against him at the company's annual meeting.

News Corporation, the media conglomerate controlled by Murdoch's father Rupert Murdoch, owns 39 per cent of the company.

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL has told the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics that the British press has become "frankly putrid in many of its elements". He believes the whole newspaper industry has moved downmarket, aping celebrity magazines in an attempt to increase circulation.

Campbell, a former Daily Mirror journalist who became Tony Blair's spin doctor, believes investigative journalism is "dying". He said budget cuts mean journalists are now largely desk-bound and rely on private investigators to get stories.

The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing.

The Opposition says it is considering not putting out an alternative budget update, after Treasurer Wayne Swan announced $11.5 billion in savings to get the budget back to surplus in 2012-13.

Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey says the Government steals its policies and the Coalition is tired of doing the "heavy lifting".

He says the Government's decision to make cuts to the public service to help make savings is stolen from the Opposition's policy play book.

'Well it's no surprise and we welcome the Government copying us. I wish they'd copy us on everything and then maybe the country would be in better shape," he said.

from Crikey .....

Hey, panic merchants: asylum seekers are already living next door

Caz Coleman, a member of the Council for Immigration Services and Status Resolution, writes:

ASYLUM SEEKERS, BRIDGING VISAS, DETENTION CENTRES