The office of Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie has confirmed he said Opposition Leader Tony Abbott would make a good Prime Minister.

Mr Wilkie is quoted in News Limited papers as declaring support for Mr Abbott's potential.

A spokeswoman says Mr Wilkie repaired his relationship with Mr Abbott last year.

Mr Wilkie has repeatedly threatened to withdraw support for the Federal Government if there is not progress towards putting restrictions on poker machines.

Asked about his comments, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she would keep working with Mr Wilkie on problem gambling.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s experimental effort to spur a recovery by purchasing vast quantities of federal debt has pumped up the stock market, reduced the cost of American exports and allowed companies to borrow money at lower interest rates.

From Elizabeth Farrelly

It may be, as one correspondent wrote last week, that advertising works on the "80/80 principle", the assumption that 80 per cent of Australians have an IQ average of 80. Now I'm fine with stupidity in advertising. Indeed, I expect nothing less - isn't that why God gave us the mute button? But what makes the 80/80 thought especially gripping - as in, by the throat - is how much it explains that branch of advertising we call politics.

...

It had been a term of endearment which had cemented links with her Greek heritage and first adorned her cars more than five years ago following a loving gift from her husband.

But the nickname Kiki, given to lawyer Kristen Perry before she could even walk, has now put her in hot water with the Roads and Traffic Authority because her number plate also translates into a term for female genitals in the Filipino language of Tagalog.

''I rang my father last night and said: 'Do you know you have been calling me vagina all my life?','' she said.

From the Drum / ABC

By Scott Stephens

There is no surer way of bringing the simmering debate about the role of religion in Australia to a full boil than by invoking the money and tax concessions given by government to fund certain religious activities.

But under the current arrangement, because of the top-down provision of government funds, the mediation of state-level providers (such as Scripture Union), the lack of adequately (by which I mean theologically and pastorally) trained chaplains, and the concern to avoid the appearance of publicly-funded "proselytising," the relationship between the chaplain and the school is marred from the outset.

artwork on a wall in newtown...

The case about global warming scheduled to be argued on Tuesday before the Supreme Court is a blockbuster. Eight states — from California to New York, plus New York City — sued six corporations responsible for one-fourth of the American electric power industry’s emissions of carbon dioxide.

Gus toon from ages ago...

The minutes of a series of meetings between ministers and senior oil executives are at odds with the public denials of self-interest from oil companies and Western governments at the time.

The documents were not offered as evidence in the ongoing Chilcot Inquiry into the UK's involvement in the Iraq war. In March 2003, just before Britain went to war, Shell denounced reports that it had held talks with Downing Street about Iraqi oil as "highly inaccurate". BP denied that it had any "strategic interest" in Iraq, while Tony Blair described "the oil conspiracy theory" as "the most absurd".

Corporations are roaring. Wall Street is rolling in cash. C.E.O. bonuses are going gangbusters. It’s a really good time to be rich!

If you’re poor, not so much. The pall of the recession is suffocating. The unemployment rate is still unbearably high. The Census Bureau reported in September that the poverty rate for 2009 was 14.3 percent, higher than it has been since 1994, and the number of uninsured reached a record high. And the Department of Agriculture has reported record “prevalence of food insecurity.”

Some dinosaurs did their hunting at night, new research suggests.

Studies of the eyes of existing birds and reptiles with different daily activity patterns were compared with similar parts in dinosaur fossils.

The results suggests that small, meat-eating dinosaurs were nocturnal; large, plant-eating dinosaurs tended to forage both during the day and at night.

The Science study also challenges the notion that mammals' nocturnal nature evolved to avoid day-active dinosaurs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13058818

Clubs Australia says it is "outraged" at suggestions it may be involved in a death threat against independent MP Andrew Wilkie.

Mr Wilkie has claimed the gaming industry is mounting a smear campaign against him because of his calls for tougher laws to target poker machines and problem gambling.

The Tasmanian independent also says there has been an attempt to blackmail him with supposed "compromising photos", and threats to trawl through his past as an Army cadet at Duntroon.

"In the past two days I've received a death threat, been threatened with the existence of compromising photos, and am having my past as a cadet at Duntroon nearly 30 years ago trawled over,'' he said.

HUNTING in 29 national parks, relaxation of gun licensing laws and shooting as a school sport: these are some of the demands the Premier is about to be confronted with by the Shooters and Fishers Party, which now shares the balance of power in the NSW upper house.

As the make-up of the Legislative Council was decided yesterday, documents obtained by the Herald reveal the extent and cost of the shopping list likely to be presented to Barry O'Farrell as he tries to negotiate his legislation through the new Parliament.

US President Barack Obama has said he enjoys golf in large part because a game is the only way he can escape outdoors for hours at a time.

He said he misses the trappings of ordinary life - weekend lie-ins, trips to the market and walks in the park.

"I just want to go through Central Park and watch folks passing by," he told Hearst newspapers. "I miss that."

Mr Obama's security bubble precludes much privacy and spontaneity. He recently announced a re-election bid.

"I miss being anonymous," he told Hearst Magazines' publishers and editors at the White House.